Flaherty signed a two-year contract worth up to $45 million. His return creates a new level of competition in the Tigers rotation.

A 29-year-old right-hander, Flaherty was 13-7 with a 3.17 ERA in 28 starts last year for Detroit and his hometown Los Angeles Dodgers, who acquired him on July 30 at the trade deadline.

Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris was declarative last month when asked about being active on the market following the signing of free-agent reliever Tommy Kahnle. “We’re not done,” Harris said at the time.