Jack Flaherty scratch on Monday hints at imminent Tigers trade

A popular pastime around the MLB trade deadline is for fans to be on "hug watch". Usually, that means watching games leading up to the deadline and keeping an eye out for moments when a player starts hugging his teammates and saying their goodbyes. It's an early indicator that a trade has just gone down. For Detroit Tigers fans, that meant a lot of eyeballs were going to be on Jack Flaherty.

Flaherty's turn in the rotation came at a pretty awkward time. While Detroit would like to get one last start out of the clearly available pitcher, there is also always a risk that Flaherty could get hurt and torpedo any chance of a deal getting done.

While there are arguments for both sides of the decision, the Tigers have seemingly decided to play it safe and scratched Flaherty from his Monday start. This might mean a deal could come at any moment.

Detroit Tigers Rumors: Jack Flaherty scratched from start against Guardians with MLB trade deadline looming

While many teams would mask their intentions and keep a player in the lineup until a trade was going to happen, Flaherty is a specific situation. Detroit has made it clear that they are going to trade him somewhere, and while a deal doesn't appear to be close, the Tigers must be getting offers that are good enough to give them confidence that they will be able to close a deal before the deadline.

Given some of the prices we have seen paid so far on the trade market, no one can blame the Tigers for wanting to make sure they get top dollar for Flaherty. Pending free agent reliever Carlos Estevez netted the Angels two very good pitching prospects with upside, so it is safe to assume that Detroit will get at least more than that for Flaherty given his strong season so far and the lack of frontline starters available on the trade market.

As for how much more, that remains to be seen. We floated a potential Tigers-Dodgers deal that would send Flaherty as well as Mark Canha to LA for a nice haul of position prospects. While the Dodgers may have removed themselves from the equation after their massive three-team deal that just landed them Tommy Edman and Michael Kopech, it is looking more and more like Flaherty could command more than anyone thought.

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