Tigers Rumors: Veteran reliever emerges as sought after trade deadline option

Jack Flaherty is still scheduled to make his 19th start of the season for the Tigers on Monday at 6:40 against the Guardians despite the fact that he will almost certainly be packing his bags less than 24 hours after he gets off the mound.

We were on Hug Watch for Flaherty, the Tigers' biggest trade piece this year, during Tarik Skubal's start on Saturday, and he did move through the dugout hugging the pitching staff and acting like a guy who knew he was about to get traded.

A deal has yet to come down, but it just seems like a matter of time. The Tigers rotation is in a pretty desperate place right now, so it sort of makes sense for them to milk as many starts out of him as they can before they send him on his way.

Most baseball pundits are also still of the mind that Flaherty will be moving. MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince guessed in a 'bold predictions' piece on Sunday that Flaherty would head back to Baltimore, but he wouldn't be alone. Castrovince threw in as-yet unmentioned trade candidate Andrew Chafin in with him.

MLB.com predicts Jack Flaherty, Andrew Chafin will head to Orioles at the trade deadline

There have been a few Flaherty packages floated — our mock trade for Flaherty to the Dodgers included Mark Canha — even though Flaherty could easily stand alone and still net a nice return for Detroit. Chafin returned to the Tigers this season on a one-year deal with a club option for 2025, representing a nice little add-on for a potentially buying team. The Orioles do have three lefty relievers, but Cionel Pérez and Cole Irvin have both struggled this season.

Chafin has done good work for Detroit as a frequent setup man and occasional closer, pitching 37 innings for a 3.16 ERA. He's much more likely to be moved than the Tigers' other go-to lefty Tyler Holton, who is still a year away from arbitration eligibility and boasts a 0.00 ERA over his last seven appearances and a 2.97 ERA on the season.

The Tigers already traded Carson Kelly to the Rangers on Sunday night, so it would make sense if they're about to go on a run through their walk-year guys and rake in as many prospects for next year as they can. Chafin and Flaherty may be out the door when the clock strikes 6 PM on Tuesday evening.