Yankees pursued Flaherty but couldn’t match up

PHILADELPHIA — Brian Cashman didn’t skip any departments in his shopping before Tuesday’s trade deadline. The New York Yankees general manager combed through the market for right-handed and left-handed relievers. He pursued infielders. He looked in the outfielder aisle. He searched for starting pitching. One player in that particular area intrigued him down to the wire.

The Yankees were one of two finalists to acquire Jack Flaherty, by far the best starting pitcher traded Tuesday, from the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers ultimately traded him to the Los Angeles Dodgers a few minutes before the clock struck 6 p.m. ET for two minor leaguers, leaving the Yankees with utilityman Jazz Chisholm Jr. and relievers Mark Leiter Jr. and Enyel De Los Santos as their deadline haul.

Speaking to reporters on a call Wednesday, Cashman didn’t deny that Flaherty’s recent back injury affected the price the Yankees were willing to pay for Flaherty to boast a rotation that has faltered in recent weeks. But he emphasized he “was in it all the way to the end” before the Tigers dealt Flaherty, a Los Angeles native, to his hometown club.

“At the end of the day, I would’ve brought Jack Flaherty in if I could’ve matched up and I had difficulty matching up,” Cashman said. “And that was the reason I don’t have him.”

Flaherty, 28, was traded at the deadline for the second straight season. His value from last year to this year, however, changed drastically.

Last summer, Flaherty was a struggling pitcher trying to rediscover his previous dominance. The market for the rental’s services was limited and the St. Louis Cardinals traded him to the Baltimore Orioles for three middling prospects. Flaherty struggled so badly in Baltimore that he was moved to the bullpen by the end of the regular season. He finished it with a 4.99 ERA in 29 appearances (27 starts) between the two clubs.

The Tigers, hunting for value, signed him to a one-year, $14 million pillow contract in December. The deal became a huge bargain. Flaherty posted a 2.95 ERA across 106 ⅔ innings for Detroit. He logged at least five innings in each of his 18 starts. He’s compiled 133 strikeouts to 19 walks.

But he missed a start at the beginning of July because of a lower back issue that required two injections in three weeks. The problem hasn’t appeared to impact Flaherty since returning on July 11. He held opponents to three runs over 17 ⅔ innings in three outings.

The continued standout performance made Flaherty the clear top starting pitcher on the trade block once Garrett Crochet decided he wouldn’t pitch in the postseason without a contract extension.

The Yankees wanted Flaherty to upgrade a rotation with a 5.17 ERA, the fourth-highest in the majors, since June 1. The Dodgers, the marquee franchise on the other coast with annual championship-or-bust expectations, wanted him to have another top-tier option for October with so many questions surrounding their rotation.

Ultimately, Los Angeles nabbed Flaherty to place atop their rotation. The Yankees will move forward with what they got, banking on Gerrit Cole to move closer to Cy Young form and Clarke Schmidt to smoothly return from injury to boost the rotation down the stretch.

“In the end, we failed because we couldn’t match up on value,” Cashman said. “That’s all.”