Flaherty traded to Dodgers for two prospects

DETROIT -- Jack Flaherty is headed back home to Southern California. The Tigers traded the right-hander to the Dodgers just before the 6 p.m. ET Trade Deadline and after their 5-0 loss to the Guardians on Tuesday.

Detroit received catcher/first baseman Thayron Liranzo and shortstop Trey Sweeney, Los Angeles’ No. 8 and No. 22 prospects, respectively.

TRADE DETAILS
Tigers receive: C/1B Thayron Liranzo, SS Trey Sweeney
Dodgers receive: RHP Jack Flaherty

The Tigers had this outcome in mind when they signed Flaherty to a one-year, $14 million deal last offseason. The 28-year-old wanted a short-term contract with a club that could help him get back to his younger form. Detroit wanted an experienced, accomplished starter on a short-term contract with the possibility of flipping him for prospects at the Trade Deadline or recouping a Draft pick if he left as a free agent.

Both sides got what they wanted out of the deal. With the Tigers, Flaherty was an All-Star candidate and a strong No. 2 starter behind Tarik Skubal after making some offseason and Spring Training adjustments to move better in his delivery. His 2.95 ERA and 3.11 FIP were both in the top 10 among American League pitchers (minimum of 100 innings), while his 7.00 strikeout-to-walk ratio trailed only Seattle’s George Kirby and Tampa Bay/Baltimore’s Zach Eflin.

“I've talked about wanting [this] to be a place where players know that they can come and get better. There is no better example than Jack Flaherty,” Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris said. “He came here after a rough year last year, he put his head down and got to work immediately. ... He's one of the best pitchers in all of baseball right now, and we're really proud of our ability as an organization to work together to help create an environment in which that can happen.”

Flaherty’s slider regained its bite for his best numbers with the pitch since 2020, and his fastball ticked up in velocity while ticking down in exit velocity allowed. The only question with Flaherty was a lower back issue that led to two injections, but the right-hander’s last few starts made the case that he should be fine for the stretch run.

Harris could have kept Flaherty for the home stretch and made him a qualifying offer in hopes of getting a compensatory pick near the end of the first round of next year’s Draft -- roughly the same part of the Draft from which they selected shortstop prospect Kevin McGonigle in 2023. In the end, Harris opted to take the trade route and gain two prospects -- one advanced, the other still in development.

“Jack was a very popular name on my phone all week,” Harris said. “We got a lot of calls about Jack. Our goal was to find young talent, especially position-playing talent, that could help us at premium positions moving forward.”

The 21-year-old Liranzo, who becomes the Tigers’ new No. 5 prospect, provides a switch-hitting power bat, though he has been much more effective from the right side, along with catching capability. He batted .220/.344/.356 with 15 doubles, seven home runs and 30 RBIs in 74 games for High-A Great Lakes this season. Liranzo went on a tear in May with an .867 OPS and nearly as many walks (21) as strikeouts (22) before a rough July cooled his average. His body frame provides a big presence behind the plate, but his defensive development will likely determine whether he stays at catcher or moves to first base regularly.

“Switch-hitting catcher, really strong arm, hits the ball really hard, makes good swing decisions at the plate,” Harris said. “I think there's a lot of opportunity for him to continue to get better. We have a lot of faith in our catching program led by Ryan Sienko, and we feel like adding him is going to help him defensively get a lot better.”

Sweeney was the Yankees’ first-round pick in the 2021 Draft after a stellar season at Eastern Illinois, and he was traded to the Dodgers last offseason. The left-handed hitter batted .254/.334/.247 with 22 doubles, 13 home runs and 62 RBIs while going 16-for-19 in stolen bases over 96 games at Triple-A Oklahoma City this year. He’ll enter the Tigers' system at Triple-A Toledo.

“He's hitting the ball considerably harder than he was in previous years,” Harris said. “And I think he's still sort of settling into Triple-A right now. I think he needs a few more reps in Triple-A before he can impact us up here. But in terms of the athlete, the swing, the ability to play a premium position as a left-handed hitter, those are hard to find, and we're fortunate that we found one.”