Jack Flaherty Trade Rumors: Yankees Backed Out Due to Medical Concerns Before LA Deal

Timothy Rapp@@TRappaRTFeatured Columnist IVJuly 31, 2024

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The Los Angeles Dodgers acquired starting pitcher Jack Flaherty on Tuesday ahead of the MLB trade deadline, sending a pair of prized prospects in Thayron Liranzo and Trey Sweeney to the Detroit Tigers.

Flaherty nearly ended up on the other side of the country, however.

According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the New York Yankees had a “preliminary” deal in place to acquire Flaherty but backed out “after reviewing the right-hander’s medical records.”

The star pitcher has had lower back issues this season that required two injections in three weeks in July and cost him a start.

He’s been pretty good in his three starts since, however, with a 1.53 ERA in 17.2 innings, 18 strikeouts and a pair of wins.

He’s certainly in the conversation for AL Cy Young this season, posting a 7-5 record with a 2.95 ERA, 0.96 WHIP and 133 strikeouts across 106.2 innings. The Dodgers were more than happy to pull the trigger on the deal.

“I can’t comment on medical stuff with trades,” Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris told reporters after the trade with Los Angeles. “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 Yankees ultimately didn’t address the starting rotation, instead opting to make moves for Jazz Chisholm Jr. and a pair of bullpen options in Mark Leiter Jr. and Enyel De Los Santos.

Chisholm in particular has been fantastic thus far, but if Flaherty is lights out the rest of the year and helps the Dodgers win the World Series, there may be a collective groan emanating from the Big Apple.