Renowned prospect outlet praises Tigers for Jack Flaherty-Dodgers trade deadline deal

The Tigers were widely panned for how they handled the Jack Flaherty trade with the Dodgers at the deadline, but the two prospects they got in return — Trey Sweeney and Thayron Liranzo — are already making the deal look a lot more balanced than it did at first.

Sweeney has already been promoted to the majors and hit his first home run in last week's series against the Cubs. The Tigers have been swapping him out with Javy Báez at shortstop, and he could be a clear successor to the position on a full-time basis if Detroit ever does work up the courage to part ways with Báez.

Multiple things about the Flaherty trade can be true. Scott Harris did probably overplay his hand and waited too long to get the kind of return that Flaherty really warranted, but the prospects they did get also have a lot of potential to be real factors at the major league level.

To put a finer point on this, Liranzo garnered some high praise from Baseball America after slotting in as the Tigers' No. 5 prospect following the trade.

Geoff Pontes wrote, "A switch-hitting catcher with elite power is like a unicorn, but the Tigers may have acquired just that in Liranzo at this year’s trade deadline."

Tigers' new No. 5 prospect Thayron Liranzo called a "unicorn" by Baseball America

Liranzo was already turning heads with the Dodgers (he was one of only two LA representatives in this year's Futures Game), but he's clicked into another gear in High-A with the Tigers. Over 15 games so far, he's batting .396 with a 1.318 OPS, four homers, and 13 RBI. On Aug. 13, he enjoyed a 4-for-4 night at the plate with two homers and four RBI.

Pontes' article notes that switch hitters can take more time to develop, but Liranzo is smashing through High-A and is probably due for a promotion to Double-A next season.

He might present a challenge to Dillon Dingler for the co-catcher role, but the Tigers would probably be more inclined to let go of Jake Rogers first. Rogers will be a free agent at the end of 2026, which is the year MLB Pipeline expects Liranzo to be due in the majors. They could trade Rogers at the deadline or just let him go altogether and let Liranzo come up. Rogers hasn't been having a good year at the plate (despite a beautiful seven-RBI day against the Mariners a few weeks ago), so if the Tigers keep him until 2026 and he can't improve at the plate, replacing him with Liranzo would be the clear path forward.

So we won't be seeing Liranzo in the majors for some time still, but the Tigers are starting to place some great foundational blocks for the future.