Just days after the Los Angeles Dodgers designated James Paxton for assignment, one MLB writer is suggesting they trade for another starting pitcher. Bleacher Report’s Tim Kelly writes that Jack Flaherty from the Detroit Tigers could help put Los Angeles over the top as it seeks its second World Series title this decade.
Kelly published a story on Wednesday, July 24 in which he examined each MLB postseason contender and identified a trade deadline fit based on that team’s biggest need. For the Dodgers, that need is healthy arms for a beaten up starting rotation.
“Maybe when October rolls around, the Dodgers will end up with too many good starting pitchers, due to a combination of stars getting healthy and continued success from Gavin Stone and Landon Knack,” Kelly wrote. “President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman can’t just hope for the best, though. He needs to add another pitcher capable of taking the ball during a pivotal playoff game in Philadelphia or Atlanta in the postseason.”
Flaherty is a veteran with postseason experience and success (3.60 career postseason ERA). At 28, he’s also amid a bounce-back year from a 2023 season that saw him take the ball just nine times. In 17 starts in 2024, he is 7-5 with a 3.13 ERA and 127 strikeouts in 100.2 innings pitched. He also has a WHIP of 0.964, lower than the number he posted in 2019 when he led the league in that category.
Jack Flaherty Makes Sense for the Dodgers to Win Now
With a strong core, there’s not a ton of urgency for the Los Angeles Dodgers to capitalize on a championship window. But there is some.
Players don’t stay in their primes forever, and Clayton Kershaw, Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman are all 30 or older. Flaherty is a free agent at the end of the year, so the Dodgers could use him as a quick rotation bandaid without being tied to a longer contract.
“As a rental, he makes sense for the Dodgers,” Kelly said. “A year from now, the Dodgers will likely have a much healthier pitching staff. Right now, though, they need a starter that helps them make the best of a peak year from Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman.”
The Dodgers don’t have to decide quite yet on what to do with Flaherty in the offseason.
State of the Dodgers’ Starting Rotation
Kershaw and Tyler Glasnow are both scheduled to come off the Injured List this week, with Glasnow pitching Wednesday night against the Giants. The roster log-jam led to LA cutting Paxton, who was a reliable rotation presence while injuries took out everyone around him.
Dustin May is already out for the rest of the season and Ohtani won’t pitch again until next year. Walker Buehler is starting to gather steam in a comeback but there’s still not timetable on him just yet, while Yoshinobu Yamamoto hopes to return late in the season.
It all combines to put the Dodgers in a spot where their playoff rotation could be anything from great to awful, and that’s why they need some stability.
For those worried about roster spots, remember that this is baseball. For better or for worse, those issues tend to sort themselves out.
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