Jack Flaherty's departure from Detroit at the 2024 trade deadline wasn't at all surprising, but it left the Tigers desperately short-staffed. The rotation was down to two men in Tarik Skubal and Keider Montero. Reese Olson and Casey Mize were on the shelf and Kenta Maeda had been demoted to the bullpen.
Still, with Skubal, Montero, a lot of bullpen games, and a dream (and some help from the collapsing Twins), the Tigers went .600 in the second half of the season and squeaked into the postseason for the first time in a decade.
The Dodgers got Flaherty and the Tigers got prospects Trey Sweeney and Thayron Liranzo. Sweeney paid off almost immediately; the Tigers called him up for his big league debut just a couple weeks after the trade, and he's expected to platoon at shortstop in 2025 with Javy Báez.
Liranzo slotted in at No. 6 in the Tigers' pipeline and absolutely slugged through 26 games in High-A (.315 average, 1.032 OPS). He raised his profile further in the Arizona Fall League, when he hit five doubles in six games along with two homers.
Flaherty's still looking for a home in 2025 but Liranzo very well might be a key piece of the Tigers' future, which makes it hard to stay pressed about Detroit dealing Flaherty at the deadline.
Jack Flaherty trade piece Thayron Liranzo has made it clear the Tigers did the right thing by dealing him
Maybe Flaherty could've helped the Tigers through their postseason run; maybe he would've broken down. His struggle through the postseason with the Dodgers hints that he might not have been incredibly solid for Detroit, even if it would've been nice to have any semi-reliable starter to complement Skubal.
However solid Flaherty's first-half performance with the Tigers was, he was in LA when the Tigers put up a .600 record in the second half. Their August-September ascent was thanks to the young players getting hot, some good managing, and some dumb luck ... so who's to say things would've worked out the same if Flaherty had stayed?
The Tigers are often criticized for their over-reliance on prospects and young players, but in this case, Flaherty was only in town for one guaranteed year and the Tigers definitely didn't expect to see the postseason when they traded him. The front office made the right call on this one; Flaherty was great during his 18 starts, but the Tigers helped fortify their future and were able to embark on a thrilling postseason run even without him.