The Padres bolstered their bullpen with the acquisition of a righty over the weekend Jason Adam from the Rays, but they are not finished. Dennis Lin and Chad Jennings of The Athletic report that San Diego hopes to add “at least” one starter and remains open to bringing in more help. They have had discussions with the Tigers about it Jack Flahertyaccording to the report, and actually at least test the power Blake Snell reunion (as reported last night).
Flaherty, 28, stands as one of the most sought after trades on the market. He is on a one-year, $14MM contract with a Tigers club that faces a 12-game deficit in the AL Central and a 5.5-game gap in the chase for the final AL Wild Card spot (with four teams to jump into that hunt. ). The Tigers could hang on to Flaherty and make him a worthy offer — he’s a no-holds-barred lock and at least gives them a draft pick after his good rebound in 2024 — but the pitching need should allow Detroit to pull off a better-than-potential package. choose.
In 106 2/3 innings since signing with Detroit, Flaherty boasts a 2.95 ERA with a 32% strikeout rate and a 4.6% walk rate. Among the 80 pitchers with at least 100 innings pitched through 2024, Flaherty has the fifth-best strikeout rate, the seventh-best walk rate and the second-best differential between those two marks (trailing only the White Sox ace . Garrett Crochet). He’s also keeping the ball down at a solid 43% clip, and this year’s average fastball of 93.5 mph is the best since 2021. Flaherty also has the sixth-best swing-strike rate among those 80 hitters, behind only Crochet, Cole Ragans, Tarik Skubal, Dylan Cease again Chris Sale – an amazing collection of the game’s top arms.
The Friars’ once-prominent farm system has been decimated over the years by president of baseball operations AJ Preller’s insatiable appetite for the marquee trade. San Diego regained some of the value it lost when it traded away five top prospects Juan Soto earlier in the season when they traded their final year of control for Soto to the Yankees. However, the title prospect in that trade never threw a regular season streak in the Padres organization; the right hand Drew Thorpe instead it was stacked with three other farmhands to work for Dylan Cease during spring training. Preller has also reduced the program by trade Luis Arraez and the aforementioned Adam.
A hunter Ethan Salas and junior shortstop Leodalis De Vries they still rank among the best players in the sport, but all indications so far are that both are close to untouchable. Lin recently wrote a separate piece on that topic, and certainly any report linking the Padres to a top trade target suggested Salas and De Vries aren’t expected to play. That’s even more true when it comes to a hire like Flaherty (or a high-priced star with an opt-out clause, like Snell).
The Padres didn’t have a right-hander Yu Darvish weeks as he attends to an undisclosed personal matter. You are permanently banned. The right hand Joe Musgrove he’s been out since May with a sprain in his elbow and is on the 60-day disabled list. They currently have Dylan Cease, Michael King, Matt Waldron again Randy Vasquez in the rotation, but Vasquez has spent most of his time flirting with a 5.00 ERA while King has already set a new career high for innings pitched. Adding Flaherty or another arm to the mix would help both plug the gap until Musgrove and/or Darvish are ready to return and give the Padres another impact arm for a potential postseason rotation. A theoretical team led by Cease, Flaherty, Musgrove and Darvish will be strong, assuming all four are healthy and active.
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