Jack Flaherty nearly ended up in pinstripes.
The starter, who was dealt to the Dodgers in a deadline deal with the Tigers, was nearly sent to the Big Apple, but the Yankees backed out of a “preliminary trade agreement” after concerns arose about Flaherty’s medical records, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported late Tuesday night.
The Yankees had been linked to Flaherty in trade rumors leading up to the deadline and seemed to be on a path to acquire the right-hander until he was ultimately sent to Los Angeles in exchange for prospects Thayron Liranzo and Trey Sweeney, the latter of which, ironically enough, was a Yankees draft pick that was traded this offseason the Dodgers for reliever Victor Gonzalez.
The hesitation on the part of the Yankees appeared to stem from a lower-back issue that kept Flaherty from making a scheduled start in early July.
It also led him to receive two injections over a three-week span.
While the righty hasn’t suffered on the mound — posting a 1.53 ERA with 18 strikeouts in three starts since the issue arose — Yankees general manager Brian Cashman didn’t go through with any deal.
It’s unknown what the Yankees would have sent the other way as part of a trade for Flaherty.
Only the Yankees and Dodgers looked over his medical records, Rosenthal reported.
“I can’t comment on medical stuff with trades,” Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris said, according to The Athletic. “You would have to ask the other teams. Jack is healthy. If we didn’t trade him, he was going to start for us on Thursday.”
Flaherty was previously scratched from his Monday start to protect him from a potential trade, The Post’s Joel Sherman reported then.
Flaherty, who was also traded at last year’s deadline from the Cardinals to the Orioles, had all of the credentials of an impact starter for any ballclub looking to help their rotation during the stretch run.
He went 7-5 and posted a 2.95 ERA and 0.96 WHIP with 133 strikeouts in 18 starts for Detroit this year in a bounce-back season after a rocky 2023.
The Dodgers were plenty excited to add the right-hander.
“We had a ton of conversations with a lot of teams over this last week,” Los Angeles general manager Brandon Gomes said, according to MLB.com. “We felt like getting an impact starter was a very high priority for us, and Jack is definitely that. His command, his stuff, the swing-and-miss, we feel like that’s a real power option come October, so he fits into this rotation really well.”
The Yankees did make some additions before the deadline to help their pitching staff, acquiring relievers Mark Leiter Jr. from the Cubs and Enyel De Los Santos from the Padres.
They also picked up Jazz Chisholm Jr. in a trade with the Marlins on Saturday, which is already paying dividends.
