The Padres fortified their bullpen with their weekend acquisition of righty from the Rays, but theyre not done yet. that San Diego is hoping to add at least one starter and is still open to bringing in additional relief help. Theyve had discu sions with the Tigers about , per the report, and have indeed at least checked in on a potential reunion ( ). Flaherty, 28, stands as one of the likeliest trade candidates on the market. Hes 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 leapfrog in that hunt). The Tigers could hold onto Flaherty and make him a qualifying offer hes a lock to reject and at least net them a draft pick it after his brilliant 2024 rebound but the demand for pitching should allow Detroit to extract a better package than that potential comp pick. In 106 2/3 innings since signing with Detroit, Flaherty boasts a 2.95 ERA with an exceptional 32% strikeout rate and an outstanding 4.6% walk rate. Trevor Ariza Jersey Among the 80 pitchers with at least 100 innings pitched in 2024, Flaherty has the fifth-best strikeout rate, the seventh-best walk rate and the second best differential between those two marks (trailing only White Sox ace ). Hes also keeping the ball on the ground at a solid 43% clip, and this years 93.5 mph average fastball is his best since 2021. Flaherty also has the sixth-best swinging-strike rate among those 80 pitchers, trailing only Crochet, , , and an impre sive collection of some of the games top arms. The Friars once-outstanding farm system has been thinned over the years by president of baseball operations A.J. Prellers insatiable appetite for marquee trades. San Diego recouped some of the value they lost when trading five top prospects for in the offseason when they traded their final year of control over Soto to the Yankees. However, the headline prospect in that trade never threw a regular season pitch in the Padres organization; right-hander was instead packaged with three other farmhands in a trade to acquire Dylan Cease during spring training. Preller has since further thinned the system with trades for and the aforementioned Adam. Catcher and young shortstop still rank among the sports elite prospects, but all indications to this point have been that both are close to untouchable. on that subject, and veritably any report connecting the Padres to a high-end trade target has suggested that Salas and De Vries arent expected to be in play. Thats likely all the more true when it comes to a rental like Flaherty (or a high-priced star with an opt-out clause, like Snell). The Padres have been without right-hander for weeks as he tends to an undisclosed personal matter. Hes on the restricted list indefinitely. Right-hander has been out since May due to a bone spur in his elbow and is on the 60-day injured list. They currently have Dylan Cease, , and in the rotation, but Vasquez has spent much of the season 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 both help to bridge the gap until Musgrove and/or Darvish are ready to return and also give the Padres another impact arm for a potential postseason rotation. A theoretical group fronted by Cease, Flaherty, Musgrove and Darvish would be formidable, a suming all four are healthy and active. Gary Payton II Jersey