Deal details: Los Angeles Dodgers acquire RHP Jack Flaherty from the Detroit Tigers for C/1B Thayron Liranzo and SS Trey Sweeney
The best prospect traded at the deadline turned out to be a Dodgers catcher, but not the one I guessed it would be. The Tigers picked up Thayron Liranzo for right-hander Jack Flaherty, a deal that looks good from both sides, as the Dodgers used one of their organizational strengths (catching depth) to go fill one of their major-league roster’s biggest needs (a starting pitcher with a pulse).
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Flaherty was also traded at the deadline last year, but he was so ineffective for Baltimore after the trade that he lost his rotation spot, and his 6.75 ERA after the deal probably scared off teams that would otherwise have seen him as a candidate for a multi-year contract last offseason. Instead, the Tigers signed him to a one-year, $14 million deal, and he gave them the best four months he’s had on the mound since his breakout year in 2019, before arm woes derailed his career.
He’d rank seventh in the majors in walk rate this year if he qualified (he’s 2 1/3 innings short), and he’s struck out 32 percent of batters he’s faced, both of which are career bests.
He seems to be fully healthy, for one thing, and he’s throwing as hard he has in any season since 2020. He’s also shown impeccable command — he’s living right at the bottom of the strike zone with his slider, and is getting his knuckle-curve down and away a larger portion of the time than in recent years.
Flaherty is not missing his spots anywhere near as often, whether we’re talking about the heart of the zone or with pitches well out of it. Just a year ago, his fastball command was erratic, he left far more sliders up in the zone, and he wasn’t getting any pitch consistently to his glove side. When I sat down to write this trade up, I thought it was a good pickup for the Dodgers. Now I think it’s a fantastic one.
Liranzo was a top-100 prospect coming into the season. (Tracy Proffitt / Four Seam Images via Associated Press)
I thought the Dodgers would trade Dalton Rushing, who is their closest catching prospect to the majors and just made my midseason MLB prospect ranking update at No. 31. Instead, they traded the guy behind him, who offers more risk for his youth and his propensity to swing and miss but I think also has a higher ceiling.
Liranzo burst on to the prospect scene last year with 24 homers in Low A as a 19-year-old and a .270/.400/.562 line, playing in a good hitter’s park in Rancho Cucamonga. In High A this year, he hasn’t hit as well, with a .220/.344/.356 line that reflects his strong walk rate (15.6 percent). He’s a switch-hitter who continues to mash from the right side but hasn’t hit well left-handed at all this season, and that’s the side that matters more, of course.
It’s mostly pitch recognition, as the plate discipline is real but he’s struggling to pick up pitch types and will miss offspeed stuff in the zone. And he still needs a good amount of work on his catching skills, although he does project to stay at the position. He’s a big upside play, with all the risk of a 1) 20-year-old 2) catcher who 3) hasn’t hit that well this year.
Infielder Trey Sweeney moves to his third organization now, and if he has any big-league value it’s as an emergency call-up to play second, third, or maybe short. He’s hitting .255/.344/.427 for Triple-A Oklahoma City in the hitter-friendly PCL with the worst strikeout rate of his pro career (26.8 percent).
Liranzo for a two-month rental of Flaherty is a reasonable return, because of his upside, but there’s a real risk of a zero return here because he has so much development ahead of him.
(Top photo of Flaherty: Nic Antaya / Getty Images)
