Getty Red Sox potential trade target Jack Flaherty
After Tuesday’s win over the Marlins in what might well be called a must-win series as the Red Sox approach the July 30 MLB trading deadline, Boston sits 0.5 games out of the A.L. wild-card chase. Behind Kansas City. They’re 2.0 games behind the Twins for the second wild card, and 7.0 games behind the Yankees for the first wild card.
The Red Sox are 8.0 games in back of the Orioles atop the A.L. East—not an impossible deficit to make up but a very unlikely one nonetheless. At FanGraphs, the playoff possibility for the Carmines sits at 35.0%, with a 1.4% chance the Red Sox storm their way to a World Series title.
Those odds—or whatever ones are popular these days on Jersey Street—will be a factor in deciding how to handle the upcoming swap meet in baseball. And for a Red Sox team whose roster has come together nicely and appears to have jelled around a core group going forward, a different tack appears to be relevant: Taking on a rental player to fill a short-term need, a trade that would not cost the team heavily in terms of young talent and prospects.
With that in mind, Chris Cotillo of MassLive floated an interesting possibility for a Red Sox trade this week on the “Fenway Rundown” podcast, in which the Red Sox would add Tigers pitcher Jack Flaherty.
Jack Flaherty a Solid Short-Term Trade Rental
Flaherty is on a $14 million one-year deal, his final contract before free agency kicks in next year. Bleacher Report has him predicted to warrant a four-year, $72 million contract. The Red Sox likely would pass on that, but if they can trade for him to fill out the rotation for the remainder of this year’s playoff run, he could be worthwhile.
The Red Sox want to keep their core but would send out less promising prospects for short-term contributors.
Here’s how Cotillo put it:
“I think for a team like this, rentals actually do make sense. All of the sudden, you are looking at, how do I make this team better without giving up any of that core? So maybe you go get Jack Flaherty for Nick Yorke and another prospect. If you’re going to go get (Garrett) Crochet, or one of these big-time guys who can be available on the trade market, they’re gonna ask for the Big Three. …
“Those kinds of guys are gonna be tough to add. Right now, I think rentals do make sense.”
Red Sox Top Prospects Marcelo Mayer, Roman Anthony, Kyle Teel Off Limits for Trades
The Big Three are the Top 3 Red Sox prospects: infielder Marcelo Mayer (.307, .851 OPS at Double A Portland), outfielder Roman Anthony (.244, .804 OPS at Portland) and catcher Kyle Teel (.298, .846 at Portland). All are considered future starters for the Red Sox, along with players already at the big-league level like first baseman Tristan Casas and outfielder/infielder Ceddanne Rafaela.
Second baseman Kristian Campbell, the Red Sox’s 2023 fourth-round pick who is batting .398 since getting called up to Portland, might well be part of that group, too, Cotillo said.
But moving Yorke, who is 22 and is hitting .348 at Triple A Worcester, would be an acceptable price to pay to bolster the team’s playoff hopes. Flaherty would be worth it. Though he has a spotty injury history, he is 5-5 this season with a WHIP of 1.000, an ERA of 3.24 and 115 strikeouts in 89 innings.
Worth monitoring though: Flaherty allowed five runs in his last outing after three straight scoreless starts, and will be scratched for his next outing with a back injury.
Still, if Flaherty comes back healthy, the Red Sox would likely have interest, more than in a top-flight starter like the White Sox’s Crochet.
“I don’t think they’re gonna be in the market for whoever you want to identify as the best starting pitcher out there, and there’s not going to be a lot. Starting pitching is going to be even more expensive than it usually is at the deadline. They’re not going to get into that kind of bidding war,” said veteran Sox reporter Sean McAdam, Cotillo’s pod partner.
“What that gets them, we’ll have to see.”