It seems as though the Yankees had a chance to trade for Tigers starter Jack Flaherty before the trade deadline but backed out.
According to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, the Yankees and Detroit had a preliminary trade agreement but the right-hander’s medical records put a pause on the deal. Detroit wound up making a deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers shortly before the 6 p.m. deadline on Tuesday.
Flaherty, 28, missed a start in early July due to a lower back issue. He would receive two injections over a three-week span. However, Flaherty has continued to pitch great even since returning to the rotation.
In the three starts after missing one, Flaherty has pitched to a 1.53 ERA over 17.2 innings. For the 2024 season, Flaherty has pitched to a 2.95 ERA over 18 starts.
“I can’t comment on medical stuff with trades,” Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris told reporters in Detroit. “You would have to ask the other teams. Jack is healthy. If we didn’t trade him, he was going to start for us on Thursday.”
The Dodgers wound up trading two of their prospects to the Tigers -- catcher/first baseman Thayron Liranzo and shortstop Trey Sweeney. Sweeney was traded to Los Angeles this offseason from the Yankees for LHP Victor Gonzalez and second baseman Jorbit Vivas.
Gonzalez was DFA’d on June 21, but cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Vivas is also in Triple-A but was called up in July for one game before being optioned. He did not have an at-bat.
Yankees GM Brian Cashman had an uneven trade deadline this season. The big acquisition was Jazz Chisholm Jr., who is already paying dividends at the plate, but the Yanks had a modest trade deadline otherwise, picking up a pair of relievers to help their beleaguered bullpen.
Cashman is expected to talk to the media on Wednesday, when the longtime GM will break down his latest trade deadline. Perhaps Flaherty's situation will be discussed, but as Rosenthal points out, Cashman took the risk on Frankie Montas in 2022 and the right-hander pitched just 41 innings with New York.
Flaherty is an unrestricted free agent after this season, but the risk was reportedly too much for Cashman.