Jack Flaherty Rumors: 5 Best Trade Fits at the Deadline

Last week on Just Baseball, we ranked Detroit Tigers’ righty Jack Flaherty as the third-best starting pitcher that could be traded before the July 30 trade deadline.

After signing a one-year, $14 million deal with the Tigers this past offseason, Flaherty has turned in his best stretch since he rode a monster second-half to a fourth-place finish in 2019 NL Cy Young Award voting while pitching for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Though he wasn’t an All-Star in 2024, Flaherty posted a 3.13 ERA, 3.17 FIP, 0.979 WHIP and 119 strikeouts across 95 innings in the first half of the season, so he’s pitching at a front-line level again.

Trading for Flaherty wouldn’t be without risk, as he has a relatively lengthy injury history. He also will be a free agent after the season, so any acquiring team would only be guaranteed a few months with the 28-year-old righty.

It’s also worth noting that Flaherty posted a 6.75 ERA after being traded to the Baltimore Orioles last summer. However, he’s a different pitcher this season than he was last year. Orioles general manager Mike Elias — who will be in search of starting pitching once again — probably won’t be inclined to trade for Flaherty a second time. But what Flaherty did with the O’s last year shouldn’t be considered particularly relevant to all other possible suitors.

With all that acknowledged, here are five potential landing spots for Flaherty, assuming Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris trades the righty.

Cleveland Guardians

Led by Emmanuel Clase, the Guardians have arguably the best bullpen in baseball. But to hold onto their NL Central lead and have the chance to do damage in the playoffs, Cleveland will need to improve their starting rotation.

Former AL Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber was lost to Tommy John surgery in April, and Triston McKenzie hasn’t been able to return to the form that made him look like a budding star two seasons ago. Tanner Bibee is a building block in the rotation, and veteran Ben Lively is having a career year. But Cleveland needs to add at least one more starter capable of taking the ball in the postseason.

Cleveland could stand to add another bat or two, but acquiring a front-line starting pitcher should be priority No. 1 for president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti.

Los Angeles Dodgers

If the Dodgers end up with too many quality starting pitchers in September and October, so be it. But right now, they have Tyler Glasnow, Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler and Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the injured list, with Shohei Ohtani (as a pitcher), Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May and Emmet Sheehan already lost for the season.

It would be irresponsible for president of baseball operations to just hope for the best. The Dodgers are in a clear World Series window with a core of Ohtani (30), Freddie Freeman (34), Mookie Betts (31) and Will Smith (29), and it should motivate them to be very active in the coming weeks.

Flaherty being a rental may actually be appealing to the Dodgers. A year from now, Ohtani, Gonsolin and May, among others, could be back on the mound. Los Angeles just needs a starter capable of pitching against the Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves in this year’s postseason, and Flaherty would give them that.

New York Yankees

Yankees’ general manager Brian Cashman might not be in that different of a situation as Friedman and the Dodgers. If Gerrit Cole regains his Cy Young form, Luis Gil doesn’t hit an innings limit that forces him to pitch out of the bullpen and Carlos Rodón, Marcus Stroman and Nestor Cortes all stay healthy, then the Yankees might be good to make a deep postseason run with the starters they have right now.

But man, that’s a lot of “ifs.” And it’s a lot of “ifs” that could realistically go in the suboptimal direction. So adding another starter that can take the ball in October seems like it would be a wise investment for the Yankees, even if upgrades at corner infield and fourth outfielder might be more pressing.

Interestingly, Flaherty has never made a start at Yankee Stadium.

Milwaukee Brewers

Like the Guardians, the Brewers have a lot to like — a lineup filled with veteran contributors and elite talent at the back-end of their bullpen (particularly if/when they get Devin Williams back). But manager Pat Murphy doesn’t have the starting staff to compete in the postseason, and he may not have enough for the Brew Crew to hold onto their NL Central lead.

Former NL Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burnes was traded to the Orioles in February, and two-time All-Star Brandon Woodruff is out for the season. Behind Freddy Peralta — who has been fine, but not spectacular — there isn’t a ton in the way of proven talent.

33-year-old Colin Rea is having a career year, while rookie Tobias Myers looks like a long-term building block in the rotation. But adding someone like Flaherty in as the No. 2 starter would increase the chances that the Brewers could really make noise in October.

Atlanta Braves

By now, you know the story with the Braves. Even though Spencer Strider was lost for the season, Atlanta sent three starters — Chris Sale, Reynaldo López and Max Fried — to the All-Star Game. However, each of those three comes with durability concerns.

Flaherty, of course, is hardly are sure bet to stay healthy. But he would give them insurance if any of the top three get hurt, and four legitimate starters when the postseason rolls around if all stay healthy.

Whether it would be Flaherty or he would push López back in the rotation, acquiring the righty would give the Braves a better potential Game 4 postseason starter than what 40-year-old Charlie Morton is at this stage of his career.