According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers are supposedly having “extensive” talks about a deal including Jack Flaherty. For a considerable amount of time, teams have been linked to right-handed starting pitcher Flaherty, making a trade seem possible. Flaherty’s scheduled start on Monday was even canceled due to ongoing trade rumors.

Additionally, according to Nightengale, if the Yankees acquire Flaherty, they intend to deal starting pitcher Nestor Cortes. On Monday, Cortes showed himself to be an unexpected trade candidate. Right now, the left-handed starter for the Yankees has an ERA of 4.13. With 22 starts this season, the 2022 All-Star has underwhelmed.

Conversely, Flaherty is currently experiencing a resurgence.

Possible effects of Jack Flaherty on the Yankees rotation

In 2023, Flaherty pitched for the Baltimore Orioles and St. Louis Cardinals, with an ERA of 4.99. Nevertheless, he appears to have settled into a groove in Detroit, as seen by his current 2.95 ERA.

Flaherty has a history of success as well. He pitched at St. Louis for several excellent seasons. Flaherty probably understood he would be traded before the July 30 deadline if the team didn’t make progress when he signed with the Tigers prior to the 2024 season.

Detroit is 52-55 right now and ready to go. Tarik Skubal, an Ace, has also been floated as a potential trade partner. Though it seems implausible, anything can happen, including a Skubal deal.

Flaherty has had a great season, and the Yankees have obviously taken an interest in him. The majority of the time, New York’s rotation has been effective, and adding a pitcher with an ERA under 3.00 will only get things better in the long run.

Whether the Yankees sign any more big players before the trade deadline will be interesting to watch. After failing to win a World Series since 2009, New York hopes to do so again in 2024.

Two audacious Tigers trade deadline forecasts

The Detroit Tigers have reverted to mediocrity following a scorching start to the season in the first month of play. On May 1, Detroit had a record of 18-13, five games higher.500 was the highest since the season’s last day in 2016. Over the next three weeks, the squad won just five of their 19 games, and they haven’t had a winning record since.

With 12 games remaining in a surprisingly competitive AL Central, the Tigers are headed for their ninth straight losing season. The team will once more be in “seller” mode as the MLB trade deadline draws near as dissatisfaction in Detroit mounts. Before the MLB trade deadline, here are two audacious predictions for the Tigers in their frantic attempt to assemble a successful baseball team.

The young core, including Tarik Skubal, remains intact.

The Tigers have started July 14-8, sweeping the Cincinnati Reds and winning series against the Cleveland Guardians and Los Angeles Dodgers, two of the top teams in the league. This young core can play winning baseball in Detroit, even though the front office is probably not going to be persuaded to become buyers by this recent success.

Tarik Skubal is the most important of these players. Despite battling injuries throughout his MLB career, the southpaw has cemented himself as the AL Cy Young favorite in 2024 by being healthy. With a 2.35 ERA, 12 wins, and 179 strikeouts, Skubal leads the league and is a desirable trade asset for a Tigers team that is below.500. Jack Flaherty has been the team’s second best player after Skubal. However, Flaherty is just signed for a single season and was never considered a significant prospect for the Tigers.

Eleven of Detroit’s top 12 players this season in terms of WAR are under 30; the team has to maintain this group and expand on its impressive July results.

After the trade deadline, the club designates Javier Baez for assignment.

For many years to come, researchers will examine Javy Baez’s deterioration. Baez finished 2021 with 87 RBI, 31 home runs, and a.813 OPS. Although he did lead the league in strikeouts, his playing style was free-swinging. He signed a six-year, $140 million contract with the Tigers in 2022, but he struggled right away in every aspect of the game. His 2024 OPS of.484 would be among the ten lowest single-season totals in MLB history (among qualified hitters), having dropped from.671 in 2022 and.593 the previous year. Baez’s chase rate is still tied for the lowest among qualified batters despite a decline in strikeouts.

Although Baez was one of MLB’s better defensive shortstops, Tigers supporters might at least take solace in that knowledge, even in 2024. Baez is in the 25th percentile of average outs this season, yet he has been worth -1 runs on the field. With just 67 games played, his -1.5 WAR ranks him as the fifth-worst field fielder in Major League Baseball. This is an almost remarkable stat.

Even though Javier Baez’s $140 million contract is not even halfway done, the Tigers find it difficult to justify paying a guy who is actively damaging the team in the field and at the plate while he is on the field. The organization will patiently wait until the trade deadline to let go of its struggling shortstop since Baez has no value in the trade market.