Alden Gonzalez, ESPN Staff WriterJul 30, 2024, 06:04 PM ET
- ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the L.A. Rams for ESPN from 2016 to 2018 and the L.A. Angels for MLB.com from 2012 to 2016.
SAN DIEGO — The Los Angeles Dodgers approached this year’s trade deadline with a desire to add a frontline starting pitcher and, with less than 10 minutes to spare, secured arguably the best one available, landing Jack Flaherty from the Detroit Tigers.
The acquisition of Flaherty capped another frantic deadline for the National League West-leading Dodgers, who also injected an injury-ravaged roster with two super-utility players (Amed Rosario and Tommy Edman), a center fielder (Kevin Kiermaier) and a hard-throwing reliever (Michael Kopech). But the star, of course, is Flaherty, who has turned a once-promising career around with a dominant first four months of the season and drew heavy interest from a slew of teams over the past couple weeks.
In exchange, the Dodgers gave up minor league catcher Thayron Liranzo — the third-ranked catcher in their system by MLB.com, after Dalton Rushing and Diego Cartaya — and infielder Trey Sweeney, a 24-year-old shortstop in Triple-A.
“Getting an impact starter was a very high priority for us, and Jack is definitely that,” Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes said. “His command, his stuff, the swing-and-miss — we feel like that’s a real power option come October.”
Flaherty is expected to join the Dodgers in San Diego on Wednesday and make his first start at some point over the weekend, during a road series against the Oakland Athletics.
He’ll slide into a decorated rotation that is also rife with uncertainty. Tyler Glasnow has pitched like an ace but will soon exceed his previous career high in innings. Clayton Kershaw is a certain Hall of Famer but is also a 36-year-old coming off shoulder surgery. Walker Buehler and Bobby Miller will be back relatively soon, but both have struggled of late. And Yoshinobu Yamamoto is dealing with a strained rotator cuff, with no telling when — or, potentially, if — he might return.
Flaherty brings some much-needed certainty thanks to a resurgent season. Now 28, Flaherty was one of the sport’s most dominant starting pitchers while with the St. Louis Cardinals in his early 20s from 2018 to 2019. He then struggled through shoulder issues and posted a 4.42 ERA from 2020 to 2023, but he has been dominant since signing a one-year, $14 million contract with the Tigers last December. Through 18 starts, Flaherty posted a 2.95 ERA and a 0.96 WHIP, striking out 133 batters and issuing 19 walks in 106⅔ innings.
“It’s exciting,” Edman, Flaherty’s former Cardinals teammate, said of reuniting with him on the Dodgers. “He’s a really fun guy to play with, a great competitor. I know that L.A.’s going to love him. It’ll be fun to be reunited with him. He pitched against the Cardinals earlier this year and I was watching the game and he struck out like 13 guys. He looks pretty nasty right now.”
Edman has yet to play this season. He was expected to be ready by Opening Day despite undergoing wrist surgery in October, but it wasn’t until June that he finally began to get ready to make it back. Then he sprained his ankle, extending his absence by at least another month. Edman, a 29-year-old who’s signed through next season, has played in eight rehab games, all as the designated hitter, and will be reevaluated within the next couple days to see when he can play the field.
“It shouldn’t be too long,” Edman said.
Where he plays when he returns, though, is an open question.
Edman plays primarily up the middle, at shortstop, second base and center field. Rosario, a pending free agent who slashed .307/.331/.417 with the Raysis a lifelong shortstop who has made at least 10 starts at three other positions this season — second base, right field and third base. Kiermaier, a four-time Gold Glove winner who has only a .546 OPS this season, is primarily a center fielder.
Their presence is necessary given the injuries to third baseman Max Muncy (oblique strain), infielder Miguel Rojas (forearm tightness), super-utility man Chris Taylor (groin strain) and right-fielder-turned-middle-infielder Mookie Betts (fractured left hand). But there’s also uncertainty on where players settle in as the Dodgers get healthy — most notably as it pertains to Betts, who has spent most of this season at shortstop.
Betts could return to shortstop, which might be even more likely given the hot stretch of second baseman Gavin Lux. He could play second, allowing Rojas or Edman to take down shortstop. He could move back to right field, fortifying the outfield. Or he could bounce around.
At this point, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, returning to shortstop is Betts’ “intent.”
“I think if he had his druthers, he would stay in one position and have a consistent outlook on the role,” Roberts said. “But Mookie has told me time and time again — whatever it takes to make us the best ballclub, that’s what he’s willing to do. I just don’t, right now, have that clarity or have that conversation yet.”
For now, the Dodgers will welcome the added depth and versatility and figure out the rest later.
“We’ve had far more injuries than we expected,” Gomes said. “We talked about looking for real impact-type moves, and as we got closer, both were needed — the impact- and depth-type moves.”