Jack Flaherty

Dodgers Notes: Hernandez, Flaherty, Kershaw, Freeman

By Mark Polishuk | November 2, 2024 at 9:24am CDT

Teoscar Hernandez and trade deadline pickup Jack Flaherty are heading to free agency after playing major roles in the Dodgers’ World Series triumph, and both players told reporters (including MLB.com’s Juan Toribio and SportsNet LA’s David Vassegh) that they would like to return to Los Angeles for an encore.

“My hopes are really high. Like I’ve said before, the Dodgers are the priority, obviously,” Hernandez said. “I’m going to do everything in my power to come back….I want us to be here. I want us to be part of this. I have so many good memories here. I’ve learned a lot as a player, as a person. It feels great to be part of this.”

“I love this city. I never want to leave,” Flaherty told Vassegh, with the words perhaps carrying a bit of extra weight since Flaherty was born in Burbank and grew up in Los Angeles. This doesn’t necessarily mean that Flaherty would give the Dodgers a hometown discount, though naturally playing close to home gives the Dodgers (and theoretically the Angels) an extra edge that other potential free-agent suitors can’t match.

It isn’t surprising to hear players on any team (whether world champions or not) express an open desire to re-sign with their current teams, and feelings could change as the free agent market develops. Of course, winning a title again underlines the fact that L.A. should be a contending team for years to come, giving the Dodgers even more flexibility in picking and choosing how they’ll construct their 2025 roster.

Re-signing Hernandez would bring another big bat back into the lineup and check off the left field question mark in one fell swoop. Though the slugger is entering his age-32 season, he is also coming off one of the best years of his nine MLB seasons, and he further showed his value with a big playoff performance. On the flip side, Hernandez would surely reject a qualifying offer, putting the Dodgers in line for a compensatory draft pick if Hernandez signed elsewhere. If Los Angeles wanted to give Andy Pages more playing time in left field or perhaps keep the position open for another outfielder (even a big name like Juan Soto), the Dodgers could opt to walk away from Hernandez and just view their one-year alliance as a total win for both parties.

Both Hernandez and Flaherty were looking to bounce back after shaky 2024 seasons, and Flaherty likewise answered some critics by posting a 3.17 ERA across 162 combined regular-season innings with the Tigers and Dodgers. The right-hander’s postseason performance was a lot more inconsistent, yet Flaherty was important simply because he was a proper starting pitcher within the injury-ravaged Dodgers’ staff. On paper, most of Los Angeles’ injured pitchers will be ready to go by Opening Day 2025, yet the team will surely look to solidify this group with at least one other starter to provide some durability as well as quality innings.

Clayton Kershaw is one of those pitchers with a murky health status, as the longtime Dodger ace is set to undergo a pair of surgeries on his left knee and toe. Kershaw pitched only 30 regular-season innings in 2024 due to bone spurs in his toe, his recovery from a shoulder surgery from last November, and this heretofore unknown torn meniscus in his left knee.

The southpaw has already said he is planning to pitch in 2025, and reiterated to The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya and other reporters that “I’ll be back, somehow” for an 18th season with the Dodgers. This might not necessarily come to pass, however, just by Kershaw exercising his $10MM player option for 2025, as Kershaw might also look to work out a new contract with L.A. that would presumably give both gives some flexibility for the future. Several of the Dodgers’ extensions in recent years have involved tacking an extra option year or two onto a shorter-term deal, so it seems quite possible the club could again explore such a contract with Kershaw.

In other Dodger news, the end of the playoffs also acts as the time when players traditionally come clean about any hidden injuries they’ve been playing through in October. It was already known that Freddie Freeman was playing despite an ankle sprain and bone bruise, yet ESPN’s Jeff Passan writes that Freeman also suffered broken costal cartilage in his rib while taking batting practice just prior to the start of the Dodgers’ NLDS matchup with the Padres.

The first baseman still played in four of the five games in that series as well as four of the Dodgers’ six NLCS games with the Mets, though Freeman was hitting only .219/.242/.219 in his first 33 playoff plate appearances. The four days’ off between the end of the NLCS and the start of the World Series provided Freeman with a chance to fully rest and reset, and he somewhat miraculously felt much better heading into Game 1, when he kicked off his World Series MVP performance.

World Series Notes: Rodon, Flaherty, Cole, Phillips

By Nick Deeds | October 27, 2024 at 10:52am CDT

While the big news from last night’s World Series game was the shoulder injury suffered by Shohei Ohtani, he wasn’t the only player dealing with an ailment during yesterday’s game. As noted by SNY’s Andy Martino last night, Yankees left-hander Carlos Rodon was pitching through a blister on one of his fingers during his start last night, which saw him surrender four runs on six hits as he struck out three in 3 1/3 innings of work.

Blister issues can cause problems with a pitcher’s grip on certain pitches. In the regular season, it’s not uncommon for a pitcher dealing with a blister to be sidelined for a short trip to the injured list until a blister fades and they can resume pitching unimpeded, but Rodon downplayed the seriousness of the issue to Martino last night as he suggested the blister was “not a big deal” and that it won’t impact his availability going forward in the World Series as the Yankees look to fight their way back from an 0-2 deficit. Rodon went on to note that he’s dealt with blister problems before in his career, though this is the first time he’s had one this year.

Overall, Rodon’s sophomore season with the Yankees has been a bit of a mixed bag. The southpaw posted a decent 3.96 ERA (104 ERA+) and struck out 26.5% of opponents while making 32 starts, but he also surrendered a career-high 31 homers and has struggled to this point in the postseason. In 17 2/3 innings of work across four postseason starts, Rodon has struggled to a 5.60 ERA overall, albeit with two strong performances against Cleveland in the ALCS that saw him strike out 15 of the 41 batters he faced. Fans in New York are surely hoping that they’ll get that version of Rodon in Game 6 if the series if the series makes it back to Los Angeles, though for now the team will have to focus on breaking through for their first win of the series.

More notes from the postseason…

Rodon isnt the only starter who’s been dealing with a day-to-day injury in this series, as Dodgers right-hander Jack Flaherty dealt with some hamstring tightness during his start in Game 1 of the World Series, according to manager Dave Roberts. As relayed by the Los Angeles Times’s Mike DiGiovanna, Roberts does not believe the issue to be a serious one. That’s good news for the Dodgers, as the club’s injury-plagued rotation would have few options to replace Flaherty if he were to go down. The right-hander struggled through the division series against the Padres and the championship series against the Mets but looked quite good in his start against the Yankees as he struck out six in 5 1/3 innings of two-run ball. Flaherty is next expected to take the ball in a potential Game 5 on Wednesday, following tomorrow’s start by Walker Buehler and a bullpen game on Tuesday.
Flaherty’s opponent in the series is expected to be Yankees ace Gerrit Cole, and Martino reports that the Yankees currently intend to keep it that way as the club “has not considered” the possibility of starting Cole on short rest in Game 4 of the series if the Yankees are facing elimination. While Martino adds the possibility cannot be completely ruled out, it would be a major departure from the way Cole has been utilized throughout his career. The 34-year-old righty has pitched on short rest only once before in his career, during the 2020 ALDS against the Rays, and while he was effective in that start the Yankees may be less willing to risk his health now that Cole half a decade older and wrapping up a season that saw him miss half the year due to elbow troubles.
Turning back to the Dodgers, right-hander Evan Phillips was left off the club’s World Series roster amid a number of nagging ailments including arm fatigue as well as tightness in his lat, triceps, and biceps. Phillips discussed his situation with DiGiovanna in more detail yesterday, noting that an MRI revealed nerve irritation in his right shoulder. Phillips described the issue as “nothing majorly concerning,” however, and suggested that the decision to leave him off the roster primarily had to do with the fact that the Dodgers wouldn’t be allowed to replace him if he were to more seriously injure himself since he was already injured before the series began. Phillips hasn’t ruled out the possibility he could be added to the roster if another pitcher is injured, though Roberts has previously suggested veteran righty Joe Kelly might be first in line as an injury replacement.

AL Central Notes: Warren, White Sox, Manfred, Caglianone

By Mark Polishuk | October 26, 2024 at 2:55pm CDT

The Tigers had interest in right-hander Will Warren during their trade talks with the Yankees this past summer, the New York Post’s Jon Heyman reports. The two clubs reportedly had a provisional agreement involving Jack Flaherty relatively close to being completed before New York backed out due to concerns over Flaherty’s medical records, though it should be noted that Heyman didn’t directly say that Warren was part of whatever trade package the Yankees were prepared to send to Detroit. Flaherty instead was dealt to the Dodgers for two position players, one of whom (Trey Sweeney) ended up playing an important role in the Tigers’ surprising late-season surge to a wild card berth.

Ironically, Warren ended up making his MLB debut on the trade deadline day of July 30, and he posted a 10.32 ERA over his first 22 2/3 innings in the big leagues. He also had a 5.91 ERA over 109 2/3 innings at Triple-A, though his minor league numbers were a little skewed by a nightmarish four-start stretch in May. Scouts and evaluators generally view Warren as a back-end starter or perhaps a long reliever at the MLB level, and while the Yankees naturally want to keep pitching depth on hand, Warren could be a relatively expendable prospect in terms of future trade possibilities (with Detroit or any other teams).

MLBTR Podcast: Trade Deadline Recap

By Darragh McDonald | August 1, 2024 at 11:59pm CDT

The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Tim Dierkes, Steve Adams and Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Were the prospect prices high in this year’s trades? Is this a new normal due to the expanded playoffs creating a seller’s market? (2:15)
The three-team trade involving the Dodgers, White Sox, Cardinals, Erick Fedde, Miguel Vargas and others (15:40)
The Rays and Cubs, the buy-sell tightrope and the trade involving Isaac Paredes and Christopher Morel (29:30)
The Astros acquire Yusei Kikuchi from the Blue Jays for a three-player package and the connection to the the Dodgers acquiring Jack Flaherty from the Tigers but the Yankees reportedly being scared off by his medicals (48:00)
The Guardians acquire Alex Cobb from the Giants and acquire Lane Thomas from the Nationals (58:35)
The Orioles acquire Trevor Rogers from the Marlins and acquire Zach Eflin from the Rays (1:09:10)
Will teams have to be more aggressive in the offseason going forward if the expanded playoffs will make less good players available at the deadline? (1:20:35)
The Rockies and Angels held onto a lot of trade candidates (1:23:35)
The Marlins leaned in hard to seller status (1:31:40)
The Padres built a super bullpen (1:44:50)
The Braves acquire Jorge Soler from the Giants (1:47:40)
The Royals acquire Lucas Erceg from the Athletics (1:54:40)

Check out our past episodes!

Trade Deadline Preview – listen here
Top Trade Candidates, Hunter Harvey To KC And The Current State Of The Rays And Mets – listen here
Brewers’ Pitching Needs, Marlins Rumors And The Nats Prepare To Sell – listen here

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!

Yankees Reportedly “Backed Out” Of Jack Flaherty Trade Following Medical Review

By Nick Deeds | July 30, 2024 at 11:59pm CDT

The Yankees and Tigers had a “preliminary” trade agreement in place that would’ve sent right-hander Jack Flaherty to New York prior to the trade deadline earlier today, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, but the Yankees ultimately pulled the plug on the deal after reviewing the right-hander’s medical records. It’s not clear what the Yankees would’ve traded to Detroit to acquire Flaherty had the deal gone through. The righty, of course, ended up traded to the Dodgers just before the deadline.

Flaherty, 28, was long expected to be one of the most coveted starters on the market this summer after a sensational start to the season with Detroit where he delivered a 2.95 ERA and 3.11 FIP through eighteen starts. He hasn’t been fully healthy this year, however, as he skipped a start due to back discomfort early this month. He’s looked good with a 1.53 ERA and 18 strikeouts in three starts since then, but evidently the Yankees nonetheless had concerns after reviewing his medicals. The club was rumored to be in “extensive trade talks” with the Tigers after Detroit scratched the righty from his scheduled start yesterday, but ultimately no deal came together.

It’s not necessarily a surprise that New York would be somewhat gunshy about the possibility of trading for an injured pitchers. As Rosenthal notes, the club traded for right-hander Frankie Montas in a deal with the A’s at the 2022 trade deadline despite lingering concerns about his shoulder, and Montas ended up struggling in a brief stint with the club before undergoing surgery. Given the fact that the Yankees reportedly planned to shop southpaw Nestor Cortes before the deadline in the event that they landed Flaherty, it would’ve been a substantial risk for the club to deal away an established arm to make room for a pitcher who they had some level of injury concern about. The Yankees instead focused their attention on the bullpen today, shipping out lefty Caleb Ferguson while adding righties Mark Leiter Jr. and Enyel De Los Santos.

By contrast, the Dodgers have a deep staff of internal rotation options led by Tyler Glasnow and Clayton Kershaw with even more arms like Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Walker Buehler expected back from the IL later this year. Given the club’s deep group of starters, it’s understandable why they’d be willing to stomach injury risk in acquiring a rental arm like Flaherty. The addition of Flaherty was paired with the addition of center fielder Kevin Kiermaier in a deal with the Blue Jays today to bolster the club’s depth after the Dodgers added Tommy Edman and Michael Kopech in a three-team trade yesterday, as well as infielder Amed Rosario in a separate deal.

According to Rosenthal, word spread around the league that the Yankees had concerns regarding Flaherty’s medicals in the run-up to the deadline, although the only other team to actually see those medicals for themselves was the Dodgers. It’s unclear to what extent other offers for Flaherty’s services were impacted by concerns coming out of the Bronx about his medicals, though it’s worth noting that Jon Heyman of the New York Post highlighted the Red Sox alongside the Dodgers and Yankees as among the teams known to have interest in Flaherty. Boston’s only established starting pitching acquisition ended up being DFA’d veteran James Paxton as they instead opted to shore up their bullpen with Lucas Sims and Luis Garcia alongside the addition of a young, unproven potential starter in Quinn Priester.

Dodgers Acquire Jack Flaherty

By Tim Dierkes | July 30, 2024 at 6:30pm CDT

The Dodgers and Tigers are in agreement on a trade sending right-hander Jack Flaherty to Los Angeles, reports Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press. The Tigers will receive catcher/first baseman Thayron Liranzo and shortstop Trey Sweeney, according to Robert Murray of FanSided. The Dodgers have now officially announced the trade.

After much speculation, the Dodgers add the best pitcher to be traded at the 2024 deadline. Flaherty, 29 in October, sports a 2.95 ERA in 18 starts this year. Among pitchers with at least 100 innings, his 32 K% ranks fifth in all of baseball. He’s also trimmed his walk rate to a career-best 4.6%.

A first-round pick by the Cardinals out of high school a decade ago, Flaherty earned a fifth-place Rookie of the Year finish in 2018. He followed that up by finishing fourth in the NL Cy Young voting in 2019, capped by a run of 16 starts in which he had a 0.93 ERA.

After stumbling in the shortened COVID season, Flaherty was limited to 78 1/3 innings in 2021 due to oblique and shoulder strains. The shoulder issues persisted into 2022, a season in which Flaherty pitched just 36 innings.

Flaherty avoided the IL last year, but was ineffective for the Cardinals and was shipped to the Orioles in a deadline trade. His struggles in Baltimore were enough that the club moved him to the bullpen before the end of the season.

Seeking to rebuild his value and re-enter free agency, Flaherty inked a one-year, $14MM deal with the Tigers last December. He missed a few starts due to back pain, but otherwise Flaherty has been an ace for the Tigers. At seven games out in the wild card, Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris opted for a pair of prospects from the Dodgers rather than a qualifying offer and draft pick compensation.

With Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the IL for a triceps injury, the Dodgers sought a front of the rotation arm to pair with Tyler Glasnow. They may have it in Flaherty, and the club also saw Clayton Kershaw make his season debut last week. Righty Gavin Stone, who opened the season as the Dodgers’ fifth starter, has been a mainstay all year. Yamamoto may yet return, while Walker Buehler is currently on a rehab assignment for hip inflammation. Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin, and Emmet Sheehan are all out for the season, pushing rookies Justin Wrobleski and River Ryan into the Dodgers’ rotation. Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman shipped veteran starter James Paxton to the Red Sox last week.

The Dodgers, who also added Kevin Kiermaier, Amed Rosario, Tommy Edman, and Michael Kopech in recent trades, sought an impact arm this month and were also linked to Garrett Crochet of the White Sox. Crochet, who was not ultimately traded, would’ve fit better with the Dodgers’ hefty payroll, but his October availability was in question. Flaherty has about $4.67MM left on his contract this year, on which the Dodgers will pay a 110% tax.

The Dodgers had three prospects on Baseball America’s recent top 100 list, and none of them were required to rent Flaherty from the Tigers for the remainder of the season.

Liranzo, 21, has split his time between catcher and first base for the High-A Great Lakes Loons this year. He’s got a 106 wRC+ in 314 plate appearances this year after raking in A-ball last year. Liranzo represented the Dodgers at the Futures Game earlier this month. MLB.com assigned Liranzo a 50 grade, calling him “one of the best young catching prospects in baseball.” Prior to the season, Baseball America also assigned a 50 grade to the switch-hitting Liranzo, saying he “projects to be an average defender overall” with above-average power and a below-average hit tool.

Sweeney, 24, was drafted 20th overall by the Yankees back in 2021 and was sent to the Dodgers last December in a deal for reliever Victor Gonzalez. As Oklahoma City’s shortstop, Sweeney has an 87 wRC+ in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League this year. MLB.com gave him a 45 grade, noting that he has “stayed at shortstop longer than most scouts expected.” BA also put a 45 on Sweeney prior to the season, saying he “has the ceiling of a second-division shortstop.”

Projecting prospects is tricky business, which is why I defer to the experts. But compared to the returns for Trevor Rogers and Yusei Kikuchi, the Tigers’ side of this trade feels underwhelming. At any rate, the first-place Dodgers have significantly bolstered their rotation as they look to return to the World Series for the first time in four years.

The Tigers’ rotation now features little beyond Cy Young frontrunner Tarik Skubal, with Reese Olson on the IL with a shoulder injury. The Tigers seemingly never got close to trading Skubal, though they did move veterans Mark Canha, Andrew Chafin, and Carson Kelly along with Flaherty in the last two days.

Yankees Discussing Jack Flaherty Trade, Planning To Deal Nestor Cortes If Completed

By Tim Dierkes | July 29, 2024 at 3:41pm CDT

The Yankees are in “extensive trade talks” for Tigers righty Jack Flaherty, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today. The Yankees plan to trade starter Nestor Cortes if they land Flaherty, adds Nightengale. Earlier today, we learned that Flaherty has been scratched from tonight’s start against the Guardians, with a trade expected soon.

Flaherty, who will be a free agent after the season, has experienced a resurgence this season and is sporting a career-best 27.5 K-BB% through 18 starts. The Tigers are 5.5 games out in the wild card and are a long shot to reach the playoffs, so Flaherty seems very likely to be dealt before tomorrow’s 5pm central time trade deadline.

The Yankees, meanwhile, are one game back of the Orioles in the AL East and currently hold a wild card spot. The Yanks have limped to an 8-13 record in July, though they won their last two at Boston. Senior vice president and GM Brian Cashman added Jazz Chisholm Jr. via trade yesterday, and is known to be seeking reinforcements for the pitching staff.

The New York Post’s Joel Sherman connected the Yankees to Flaherty on Saturday, and Sherman’s colleague Jon Heyman reported Cortes’ availability earlier today. Flaherty would form a dynamic 1-2 punch with ace Gerrit Cole. Even sans Cortes, the club could be adequately covered for the rest of the regular season with Carlos Rodon, Marcus Stroman, and Luis Gil, with Clarke Schmidt on the mend from a lat strain. It’s also worth noting that Gil will surpass his professional career-high in innings (108 2/3) if he records five or more outs tonight in Philadelphia, so the Yankees may need to back off to keep him fresh for October.

Cortes, who leads the Yankees with 124 1/3 innings this year, owns a 4.13 ERA at present. With a 17.4 K-BB%, he’s an entirely capable big league pitcher, though he lacks the strikeout stuff Flaherty has shown this year. Cortes is under team control through 2025 as an arbitration eligible player, and will earn a raise on this year’s $3.95MM salary.

According to Cot’s Baseball Contracts, the Yankees’ competitive balance tax payroll currently sits around $315MM. The club pays a 110% tax on anything above $297MM. A Cortes-Flaherty contract swap-out would increase the team’s CBT hit by around $3.3MM for the remainder of the season, which would carry a tax of about $3.6MM. But given that the Yankees are considering all sorts of different scenarios, we won’t know where the dust settles until about 24 hours from now.

Jack Flaherty Scratched From Start Tonight; Trade Expected Soon

By Tim Dierkes | July 29, 2024 at 1:16pm CDT

Tigers righty Jack Flaherty is being scratched from tonight’s start in Detroit against the Guardians, according to Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Heyman says a trade “should be expected soon,” so the Tigers aren’t taking any chances. Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press isn’t aware of a deal in place, but agrees the Tigers “still plan to trade him.”

Flaherty, 29 in October, has a 2.95 ERA in 18 starts this year. Among pitchers with at least 100 innings, his 32 K% ranks fifth in all of MLB. Flaherty will be a rental, given the one-year, $14MM deal he signed with the Tigers back in December. The Tigers enter play tonight 5.5 games out in the wild card race, but their estimated 5.2% chance at the playoffs evidently is not enough to convince president of baseball operations Scott Harris to hang on to his co-ace and just issue a qualifying offer after the season.

Flaherty, a first-round pick by the Cardinals a decade ago, finished fourth in the NL Cy Young voting in 2019. An oblique strain cost him more than two months in 2021, after which he strained his shoulder and had to work out of the bullpen. Shoulder issues persisted into 2022, a season in which Flaherty tallied only 36 innings. Amid an unimpressive ’23 season, the Cardinals shipped their former ace to the Orioles in an uneventful deal. Just shy of a year later, the old Jack Flaherty is back, to the great benefit of the Tigers and his likely new team. Flaherty missed a few starts in June due to a back injury, but he avoided the IL and has taken his last three turns with excellent results.

If a Flaherty trade is prospect-focused, it will represent a nail in the coffin on the Tigers’ 2024 season. The club’s rotation depth is perilously thin behind Tarik Skubal and Flaherty, featuring veteran Kenta Maeda and rookie Keider Montero. Reese Olson is on the IL with an apparently mild shoulder injury, while Casey Mize is working his way back from a hamstring injury.

Flaherty is a top target for many contenders, given his excellence, past success, and availability. The Padres, Dodgers, Yankees, and Astros have been linked to him, and even the Orioles haven’t been ruled out despite the pitcher’s struggles with that club last year. That’s likely not a complete list of suitors for Flaherty.

Padres Hoping To Add Starter, Have Discussed Jack Flaherty With Tigers

By Steve Adams | July 29, 2024 at 10:52am CDT

The Padres fortified their bullpen with their weekend acquisition of righty Jason Adam from the Rays, but they’re not done yet. Dennis Lin and Chad Jennings of The Athletic report that San Diego is hoping to add “at least” one starter and is still open to bringing in additional relief help. They’ve had discussions with the Tigers about Jack Flaherty, per the report, and have indeed at least checked in on a potential Blake Snell reunion (as was reported last night).

Flaherty, 28, stands as one of the likeliest trade candidates on the market. He’s on a one-year, $14MM contract with a Tigers club that faces a 12-game deficit in the AL Central and a 5.5-game gap in the chase for the final AL Wild Card spot (with four teams to leapfrog in that hunt). The Tigers could hold onto Flaherty and make him a qualifying offer — he’s a lock to reject and at least net them a draft pick it after his brilliant 2024 rebound — but the demand for pitching should allow Detroit to extract a better package than that potential comp pick.

In 106 2/3 innings since signing with Detroit, Flaherty boasts a 2.95 ERA with an exceptional 32% strikeout rate and an outstanding 4.6% walk rate. Among the 80 pitchers with at least 100 innings pitched in 2024, Flaherty has the fifth-best strikeout rate, the seventh-best walk rate and the second best differential between those two marks (trailing only White Sox ace Garrett Crochet). He’s also keeping the ball on the ground at a solid 43% clip, and this year’s 93.5 mph average fastball is his best since 2021. Flaherty also has the sixth-best swinging-strike rate among those 80 pitchers, trailing only Crochet, Cole Ragans, Tarik Skubal, Dylan Cease and Chris Sale — an impressive collection of some of the game’s top arms.

The Friars’ once-outstanding farm system has been thinned over the years by president of baseball operations A.J. Preller’s insatiable appetite for marquee trades. San Diego recouped some of the value they lost when trading five top prospects for Juan Soto in the offseason when they traded their final year of control over Soto to the Yankees. However, the headline prospect in that trade never threw a regular season pitch in the Padres organization; right-hander Drew Thorpe was instead packaged with three other farmhands in a trade to acquire Dylan Cease during spring training. Preller has since further thinned the system with trades for Luis Arraez and the aforementioned Adam.

Catcher Ethan Salas and young shortstop Leodalis De Vries still rank among the sport’s elite prospects, but all indications to this point have been that both are close to untouchable. Lin recently wrote a separate piece on that subject, and veritably any report connecting the Padres to a high-end trade target has suggested that Salas and De Vries aren’t expected to be in play. That’s likely all the more true when it comes to a rental like Flaherty (or a high-priced star with an opt-out clause, like Snell).

The Padres have been without right-hander Yu Darvish for weeks as he tends to an undisclosed personal matter. He’s on the restricted list indefinitely. Right-hander Joe Musgrove has been out since May due to a bone spur in his elbow and is on the 60-day injured list. They currently have Dylan Cease, Michael King, Matt Waldron and Randy Vasquez in the rotation, but Vasquez has spent much of the season flirting with a 5.00 ERA while King has already set a new career-high for innings pitched. Adding Flaherty or another arm to the mix would both help to bridge the gap until Musgrove and/or Darvish are ready to return and also give the Padres another impact arm for a potential postseason rotation. A theoretical group fronted by Cease, Flaherty, Musgrove and Darvish would be formidable, assuming all four are healthy and active.

Orioles Still Looking To Make Additions

By Darragh McDonald | July 28, 2024 at 11:50am CDT

The Orioles have already made a few notable moves in the lead-up to the trade deadline. They sent outfielder Austin Hays to the Phillies for fellow outfielder Cristian Pache and reliever Seranthony Domínguez, and also bolstered their rotation by acquiring Zach Eflin from the Rays. But they still have work to do, with Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reporting that they are looking to add another reliever, who would ideally be left-handed, as well as a right-handed hitting outfielder to replace Hays and perhaps another starting pitcher.

Even with Eflin slotting in behind Corbin Burnes and Grayson Rodriguez, it’s easy to see why the O’s would want to add yet another arm into that mix. The final two rotation spots are currently held by Dean Kremer and Albert Suárez, both of whom could be improved upon.

Kremer has a servicebale 4.32 earned run average in his career and a 4.20 mark this year, but his .240 batting average on balls in play here in 2024 might be keeping that ERA artificially low. In general, he’s been more of a back-end guy than the type of arm they would want in the mix for starting a playoff game. Suárez is in the big leagues for the first time since 2017, having spent much of the interim pitching in Japan and Korea. His 3.48 ERA this year is certainly respectable but he’s 34 years old and the O’s have kicked him to the bullpen before.

Rosenthal adds that the club is willing to add a rental starter to that pile, listing Jack Flaherty, Yusei Kikuchi, Blake Snell and Frankie Montas as possible fits. Snell has another year left on his deal but has an opt-out at year’s end. Rosenthal says teams are expecting him to trigger that opt-out but it’s not a guarantee, as it’s entirely possible some injury or poor performance leads to him taking the proverbial bird in the hand. Trading players with opt-outs is a tricky situation that MLBTR’s Anthony Franco recently explored in a piece for Front Office subscribers.

The mention of Flaherty is interesting as the O’s acquired him at last year’s deadline and it didn’t go well. The righty had a 6.75 ERA in 34 2/3 innings with Baltimore last year, getting bumped to the bullpen in the process.

However, he has completely turned things around here in 2024. In 18 starts with the Tigers, he has a 2.95 ERA, 32% strikeout rate, 4.6% walk rate and 43% ground ball rate. That’s the best form he’s been in since 2019, when he looked to be breaking out as one of the better pitchers in the league. He then suffered through a number of injury-marred seasons and took some time getting over them, but there’s no doubting he’s been excellent this year.

Front offices are generally loath to reacquire a player if they already had him and it didn’t go well. If the second attempt also fails to deliver, then it invites the obvious criticism of why they tried the same thing that already didn’t work once, something that was recently discussed on the MLBTR Podcast. However, Ken Rosenthal and Katie Woo of The Athletic published a column a few days ago that said the O’s aren’t ruling out another run at Flaherty.

Though there’s a chance for a negative PR situation if Flaherty struggles in Baltimore again, he’s got the best combination of talent and availability among starting pitchers. He is on a one-year deal and therefore a rental, pitching for a Detroit club that is 5.5 games out of a playoff spot. While pitchers like Garrett Crochet and Tarik Skubal are in a similar range as Flaherty in terms of impact, they may be harder to pry loose.

Both of Skubal and Crochet are controllable for two years behind this season, meaning the price will be higher. Crochet also has the extra complication of his unclear path to the end of the season, as his limited workload makes it unclear what he can contribute. Some clubs may want to move him to a relief role but Crochet himself reportedly prefers to continue starting and would want to sign a contract extension prior to adjusting his routine.

With the question marks around Skubal and Crochet, it makes sense that the O’s aren’t crossing Flaherty off their list of targets, as the other options are less appealing. Kikuchi and Montas are having okay but not amazing years, to differing extents, while Snell has been inconsistent and also has the aforementioned contract complications.

Turning to the bullpen, though Domínguez is a nice addition, further upgrades make plenty of sense. Baltimore relievers have a collective 3.87 ERA this year, which places them 14th out of the 30 clubs in the majors. With Danny Coulombe on the injured list, their southpaw contingent is made up of Cionel Pérez, Keegan Akin and Cole Irvin. Akin has really good numbers this year but hasn’t been pitching in many high-leverage situations. Pérez has been given more meaningful assignments but with a subpar 4.40 ERA. Irvin was in the rotation before some struggles got him nudged into a long relief role.

Upgrading that group is plenty sensible and the O’s have already been connected to Tanner Scott of the Orioles. Other lefties that could be available include Andrew Chafin of the Tigers, Jalen Beeks of the Rockies, Taylor Rogers of the Giants and others.

In the outfield, the club leans heavily left-handed with Hays now out of the mix. Pache is right-handed but he’s mostly a defensive specialist, having hit .179/.243/.272 in his career. Anthony Santander is a switch-hitter but each of Cedric Mullins, Colton Cowser, Heston Kjerstad and Kyle Stowers hit from the left side, as does designated hitter Ryan O’Hearn and shortstop Gunnar Henderson.

Getting another righty in there makes sense, especially if they end up moving on from first baseman Ryan Mountcastle. They are reportedly open to trading him and/or Mullins, though sending out Hays perhaps makes those scenarios less likely.

Rosenthal throws out veterans Tommy Pham and Kevin Pillar as a couple of righty-swinging outfielders that could make sense for the O’s, though guys like Brent Rooker, Luis Robert Jr., Lane Thomas, Miguel Andujar and Taylor Ward could also be available. The trade deadline is 5pm Central on Tuesday July 30.

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