Maybe the Yankees should have traded Jack Flaherty. These starters are struggling
NEW YORK — Jack Flaherty, playing nearly 3,000 miles away, will make his second start for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night. After reviewing his medical records, the New York Yankees backed out of a tentative trade agreement for Flaherty with the Detroit Tigers.
When asked after the trade deadline, Yankees executive Brian Cashman would not comment specifically on Flaherty’s medicals, saying only that he could not meet the Tigers’ demands.
“Ultimately, I would have taken Jack Flaherty if I could have matched him,” Cashman said. “I had a hard time matching him, and that’s why I didn’t get him.”
It could be argued that trading for Flaherty, who has the seventh-best ERA in MLB, would have been worth the risk for the Yankees. It’s impossible to make direct comparisons between what the Dodgers traded and what the Yankees could have offered after they reneged on their deal, but let’s do that for the sake of analysis.
The Dodgers traded catcher/first baseman Thayron Liranzo, an offensive-minded prospect in A ball, and Trey Sweeney, a former Yankees infield prospect. Roderick Arias and Jorbit Vivas seem like the safest equivalents. Arias has struggled this season with the Low-A Tampa Tarpons, posting a 32.4 percent strikeout rate, but he could develop into a strong major leaguer in a few years if he reaches his potential. Vivas could be on the Yankees’ Opening Day roster in 2025 as the starting second baseman.
The American League is wide open this year. Bringing in a top-of-the-rotation starter in Flaherty could have cemented the Yankees as the overwhelming favorite heading into October. Instead, the Yankees’ starting rotation is filled with question marks. Since June 1, only the Miami Marlins and Colorado Rockies have worse starting pitching ERAs. After Nestor Cortes’ Thursday night failure, in which he gave up six runs to the Los Angeles Angels, the Yankees’ starters have a combined 5.48 ERA since June 1.
How are you? 😉#RepTheHalo photo.twitter.com/u5eovtRZlf
— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) August 8, 2024
Yankees manager Aaron Boone says he doesn’t care how poorly his rotation has pitched the past two months.
“Our guys are more than capable,” Boone said. “There’s more help on the way with guys coming back from injury. We have everything we need.”
Even with the Yankees pulling out of the Flaherty sweepstakes, it feels like a mistake not to add another starter. Cortes has allowed 24 runs in his last five starts, the most by a pitcher since July 11. Marcus Stroman’s 6.32 ERA is the fourth-worst since June 1. Carlos Rodón’s 5.83 ERA is the 11th-worst since early June. And that’s without mentioning Luis Gil’s career-high workload coming off Tommy John surgery and Gerrit Cole, the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner, who hasn’t looked sharp yet.
But beyond Flaherty, there weren’t many attractive starting pitchers traded. The Houston Astros overpaid for Yusei Kikuchi, the second-best starter traded. James Paxton, Frankie Montas, Martín Pérez, Michael Lorenzen, Erick Fedde and Zach Eflin were other notable starters traded, but each is more of a depth option than a high-impact acquisition.
When the Yankees didn’t sign Flaherty, it made sense that they wouldn’t pursue any of the second-tier options, since Clarke Schmidt, who was pitching like one of MLB’s top starters before his lat injury, could be back in the rotation by the end of the month. Schmidt threw his first live batting practice on Tuesday and is expected to pitch again Saturday. If that goes well, the Yankees could send him on a rehab assignment starting next week. If everyone stays healthy until Schmidt returns, the Yankees may have to make a decision about who to replace him in the rotation. Cortes and Stroman are the two most likely candidates to be cut.
“I don’t think Nestor is that far off,” Boone said. “It just comes down to finishing the execution. Stro, we’ve got to get a little bit of momentum going.
“We have the guys to go out there. It’s about getting some guys going and getting to the next level of execution.”
4 of the 20 worst starting pitcher ERAs in MLB since June 1 (min. 40 IP) have come from Yankee pitchers: Stroman, Rodon, Cortes, Cole.
No other team has more than 2 pitchers in that group.
— Katie Sharp (@SharpStats17) August 9, 2024
Stroman moved his start date from Thursday to Sunday as he works on his mechanics, which he said were out of sync in his last outing. Stroman said Thursday afternoon that he thinks he’s “figured out some things,” but he wouldn’t specify what he might have adjusted. Stroman has a career-worst percentage, strikeout percentage and ground-ball percentage that are all-time lows of his career. Since Stuff+ and Location+ debuted in 2021, Stroman is also at career lows in both categories.
Given their recent performances, it’s possible that both Stroman and Cortes will fall out of the Yankees’ playoff rotation. Their top four starters right now are Cole, Rodón, Gil and Schmidt, if he recovers well from his lat injury. The Yankees could use Cortes out of the bullpen as another left-handed pitcher, since the only other left-handed option is ground-ball specialist Tim Hill. But thinking about the configuration of the playoff starting rotation seems like a moot point if Cole can’t return to being a legitimate ace.
“Every time we give the ball to Gerrit, we expect good things,” Boone said. “He’s spoiled us with that.”
The Yankees need Cole to return to the form he showed in 2023, or at least get close to it. If he can’t be that pitcher this season, the starting rotation won’t be strong enough to carry them through October. That’s why it might have been worth taking a risk on Flaherty, who will be a free agent at the end of the season, in a year with high stakes, especially with Juan Soto in pinstripes for just one guaranteed season.
(Photo of Nestor Cortes handing the ball to manager Aaron Boone after being substituted on Thursday: Wendell Cruz/USA Today)
