4 potential trade destinations for Jack Flaherty

Unless the Cardinals go on a really hot streak, dealing away their impending free agents makes perfect sense. Where could the enigmatic Flaherty end up?

Securely in last place and well under .500 as we approach the All-Star break, the St. Louis Cardinals have about three weeks to figure out what exactly they plan to do about not only the 2023 season but also future campaigns. Will they catch fire, soar back to a break-even record, and then push for a playoff spot? Or will they continue their lackluster year and makes moves to reset for 2024 and beyond?

Let's assume another 17-game winning streak like in 2021 is not in the cards (pun very much intended) and evaluate where they might deal one of their starting pitchers, Jack Flaherty. He sports a decent 4.27 ERA through his first 17 starts this season, but if we start with that magical 2021 campaign, Flaherty has a 3.87 ERA over 207 innings, which is a 106 ERA+, slightly better than average. He also has 207 strikeouts, 96 walks, and 190 hits allowed during that stretch.

While Flaherty probably will never again have a run like his otherworldly second half of the 2019 season, he can be an effective starter, one who can take the ball every 5-6 days and keep his team in the game. Basically, he's like so many other Cardinals pitchers, a mid-rotation starter who often needs his offense to pick him up.

How many teams could use a #3 starter like Flaherty? Plenty actually. With so many hurlers getting hurt or being ineffective, roughly average production has definite value. That's how someone like Steven Matz can get a $44M contract, but let's not dig into that disaster here. Instead, let's look for possible new homes for Flaherty.

Tampa Bay Rays

The Rays have achieved their AL-best record despite receiving multiple blows to their starting rotation. Jeffrey Springs had Tommy John surgery in April, Shane McClanahan hit the injured list in late June, and the team recently announced Drew Rasmussen will have internal brace surgery, a slightly less invasive procedure that TJS with a shorter rehab time that nevertheless will cause him to miss the rest of the 2023 campaign.

While Tampa Bay's development team seemingly is capable of cranking out major leaguers whenever needed, it's certainly possible they'll look for external additions to bolster their staff. Enter Flaherty, who could bump Taj Bradley and his 5.43 ERA either to the bullpen or back to the minors once McClanahan is back from his IL stint. It's a move that almost seems too easy, too tidy a solution.

What about the Cardinals' return in such a move? If St. Louis threw in Matthew Liberatore, maybe they could get Randy Arozarena back! Too soon? Barring Liberatore somehow evolving into a top-of-the-rotation arm, that trade is always going to hurt.

Setting that dream aside, as stated earlier, the Rays have a penchant for developing major league talent, which the Cardinals also seem capable of, only limited to the hitting side of the equation. Again, that's why St. Louis should be looking for nearly-ready pitching in any Flaherty deal.

The aforementioned Bradley could be a good candidate to target, though Tampa Bay most likely sees him as a strong candidate for the 2024 rotation and too much to give up for a couple of months of Flaherty. Mason Montgomery is having a solid season with the Rays' Double-A team based in the city with which he shares his last name. Colby White is working his way back from an April 2022 Tommy John procedure, though he looked so good prior to surgery that Tampa Bay may value him too much to trade him for a two-month rental.

There's also the option for the Cardinals to pull in some young position players, freeing them up to use them or some of their major league batting talent in other deals to acquire the pitching they're after. The Rays' development pipeline typically is filled with up-and-coming youngsters, so a Flaherty deal to Tampa Bay could work out a variety of different ways to help St. Louis set up better for the future.

Baltimore Orioles

Here's another team with relatively young and unproven starters that could benefit from the stabilizing presence of a veteran arm. With rookie Grayson Rodriguez scuffling to a 7.35 ERA through 10 starts and Cole Irvin posting a 5.50 mark, improvement in one starter role obviously would be beneficial. And with Kyle Gibson and Dean Kremer putting up ERAs in the 4.70-4.80 range so far, Flaherty could slot into the third starter position and bump both of them down a notch.

In addition to the potential performance improvement Flaherty could bring, his presence could allow the Orioles to give their young hurlers a break, either by shifting them to the bullpen to reduce their innings workload or to the minors to keep them on a starter's schedule but in a lower-stress environment where their pitch count and effort could be more closely controlled with less concern about the outcome of any particular game.

Focusing on the return a St. Louis-Baltimore trade would bring for the Cardinals, it's not so clear that pitching is what the O's have to offer. Their depth is primarily with middle infielders. As the Reds have shown this season, if you have a lot of guys who can play shortstop, you tend to have a lot of guys who can play a number of different positions.

The specific youngsters available from Baltimore in exchange for a two-month rental starting pitcher is vague, but acquiring such depth could make current Cardinals such as DeJong, Tommy Edman, Nolan Gorman, and Brendan Donovan available for other trade opportunities. It's the buy-and-sell mode John Mozeliak and other front office leaders around the majors have been leaning on more and more the last few seasons.

Los Angeles Angels

How would Flaherty help the Angels? Well, they tend to go with a six-man rotation to give superstar Shohei Ohtani a bit of extra rest. Their sixth starter lately has been Jaime Barria, who has produced a very nice 3.31 ERA over six starts and a dozen relief appearances totaling 54.1 IP. While Barria's performance has stabilized the back end of the rotation, the middle portion is looking somewhat soft.

Free-agent signee Tyler Anderson has posted a 5.25 ERA in his 15 starts and a bulk reliever appearance Friday following starter Griffin Canning, who is sporting a 4.62 ERA over 14 starts. Second starter Patrick Sandoval has a 4.41 ERA that is very similar to Flaherty. And then there's Ohtani's recent cracked fingernail and blister issues. Simply put, the Angels could use more rotation depth.

Flaherty would bring his No. 3 starter skills to Anaheim (it's not really Los Angeles, not even the same county), pushing a lesser pitcher further back in, or possibly out of, the rotation. This should have the domino effect of improving the bullpen.

It's debatable whether the Angels will make a playoff push with Mike Trout's recent broken hamate bone and injuries to other players. However, making the most of what is likely Ohtani's last season with the team seems worthwhile for owner Arte Moreno, who in January backed off from selling the team, presumably in the hopes of capturing a World Series championship.

Los Angeles has a trio of Double-A pitchers - Jack Kochanowicz, Coleman Crow, and Ky Bush - among their top 10 prospects, at least according to FanGraphs. While these names might not be instantly recognizable to most fans, perhaps a bulk approach of bringing in multiple arms and seeing which ones might work out could be the foundation of a trade return. With as many pitching issues as the Cardinals have, acquiring more potential solutions has a solid chance of working out.