The Dodgers checked out Jack Flaherty’s medicals at the deadline, and they looked fine to them (or good enough, anyway), which turned out to be one of many correct calls they made that fateful day. One hundred percent or not, Flaherty continues to be plenty effective and will get the ball in Game 1 of the World Series against the very team that balked after viewing those same medicals.
The Yankees were down the road on a potential deal they’d been discussing with the Tigers for Flaherty before backing away over a perceived lower back situation. That opposing call didn’t hurt the Yankees too much, since they weren’t rotation poor and wound up as the only playoff team with extra starters. Coveted right-hander Will Warren was one the Tigers apparently sought.
The real negative to that Yankees’ decision to pull away from Flaherty is this: The Dodgers wound up acquiring Flaherty with minutes to go. Without Flaherty, the Dodgers would have a two-man rotation now.
Though the Yankees are perhaps understandably hypersensitive to medical red flags after so many issues in recent years, the theory is the Dodgers have the opposite reaction: They are somewhat desensitized toward them after an equally troubling recent injury history. Their solution is to beat the pitching epidemic with quantity. For the record, Flaherty says he feels fine, and his performance reflects that (he was 6-2 with a 3.58 ERA for L.A.)
Good thing, because with several viable to excellent starters out with injuries (Tyler Glasnow, Clayton Kershaw, Gavin Stone, Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin, Emmet Sheehan and River Ryan) and one healthy one slumping (Bobby Miller), Flaherty is nothing short of a necessity.
There weren’t other options, anyway. The Triple Crown-winning Tarik Skubal wasn’t going anywhere, and the Dodgers figured Blake Snell certainly wasn’t going from the rival Giants to them, if anywhere. They never got traction on Zach Eflin, never believed the Giants would trade them even Alex Cobb, either, and weren’t interested in Erick Fedde despite his 7-4 record with the woeful White Sox.
The Dodgers did exchange names for Garrett Crochet (even offering multiple big leaguers, though not stars), but ultimately the White Sox understandably believed they could do better trading the ultra-talented Crochet in winter once his severe innings issue evaporated.
Though necessary, the Flaherty trade, in which the Dodgers sent ex-Yankees shortstop prospect Trey Sweeney and slugging catcher Thayron Liranzo (like Ramirez) to Detroit, wasn’t even close to the best trade the Dodgers made at the deadline, as the three-team deal that netted them Tommy Edman from the Cardinals and Michael Kopech from the White Sox looks like an all-time coup.
The Dodgers loved Edman “for years” for his versatility (they love versatility), baserunning and clubhouse rep, but even they didn’t envision him as their everyday shortstop with 11 RBIs in an NLCS where he became MVP (Edman is better right-handed, so his matchup with the Mets benefited him). Interestingly, the Yankees were the other main team reported in on Edman, and the rumor was that might have cost them Nestor Cortes.
Kopech, meantime, went from a mediocre half year for the White Sox to become a big part of the Dodgers’ dominating bullpen trio. Kopech said he made a minor tweak, slightly tightening up his grip on his slider/cutter, but the main difference he said he feels less pressure with the Dodgers surrounded by so many other top relievers. Speaking of his pitching on the South Side he said, “It can feel like you’re trying to dig yourself out of a hole.”
