Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said the team’s conversations about acquiring Jack Flaherty failed to materialize before the trade deadline because he had trouble “matching up” with the Detroit Tigers to land the right-hander.
“I think Jack Flaherty is an exceptional starter. I had difficulty matching up with the Tigers on Jack Flaherty,” Cashman said, speaking to reporters less than 24 hours after the right-hander was dealt to the Los Angeles Dodgers just before Tuesday’s deadline. “… I had trouble matching up. I tried to import him and I had trouble matchup on the values.”
A report from Ken Rosenthal in The Athletic suggested there was a preliminary agreement for a trade, but that Flaherty’s medical records were a stumbling block in completing the transaction.
Cashman was asked if there was any truth to that report and did not confirm or deny the issue involved the righty’s medicals, while saying he would have liked to acquire the 28-year-old.
“Unfortunately you get a lot of different reports going out there, at the end of the day, I would have brought Jack Flaherty in if I could have matched up and I had difficulty matching up and that was the reason I don’t have him,” the GM said. “So, simple as that.”
He added: “I certainly would’ve loved to have him as a choice for us as well as anybody else that would potentially be an upgrade on our rotation.”
Detroit president of baseball operations Scott Harris told reporters on Tuesday that he couldn’t comment on medicals when it comes to trades, but added that Flaherty is healthy and that if he wasn’t dealt “he was going to start for us on Thursday.”
The Dodgers got the righty for two of their prospects: catcher/first baseman Thayron Liranzo and shortstop Trey Sweeney, whom the Yankees sent to Los Angeles this offseason to acquire lefty Victor Gonzalez and infielder Jorbit Vivas.
When Cashman was asked if the Tigers gave the Yanks the opportunity to match the Dodgers’ final offer, the GM said he stood by his earlier comments.
“You go through, you try to match up with organizations, some would just tell us ‘you don’t have what it takes,’” Cashman said. “Some would tell us ‘this is the price tag’ and we were unwilling to pay, and you try to negotiate and test that theory and see if you could get people off of things — and with other organizations we were able to pull some things off and find matches. And worst case scenario you had organizations offering things we had no interest in.
“I’ve been very specific, even up ‘til the very end, we certainly were trying to import starting pitching and add to what we already have. Just like we were entertaining bullpen pieces and position player pieces and, in that particular case, we just couldn’t find value match.”
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