The trade deadline has come and gone and the final month of the MLB regular season is right around the corner.
Free agency rumors have begun to fly around the league as the campaign nears its end, and the Boston Red Sox have been listed as an option for some high-profile names. New Dodgers pitcher Jack Flaherty is among them.
MLB insider Mark Feinsand has named Boston as a top option for the 28-year-old, alongside the Dodgers and Mets. LA and New York are famous big spenders, and if the Red Sox are interested in Flaherty, they'll have some serious competition for the starter.
The righty began this season with the Tigers before he was dished to Los Angeles at the trade deadline, and his stats rival the best season of his career in 2019 when he ranked fourth in National League Cy Young voting. He's posted a 3.00 ERA over 129 innings. He's clocked 162 strikeouts and 24 walks, good for a 93rd-percentile strikeout rate and 94th-percentile walk rate.
Red Sox named as potential landing spot for impeding free agent Jack Flaherty
The top 10 @MLB free agents this offseason (plus one bonus!) https://t.co/Xcm6gdhvhr
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) August 21, 2024
Flaherty is an eight-year MLB veteran, and he spent all but a season and a half of his career with the Cardinals, where he pitched to a 3.58 ERA over 633 innings. He pursued a long-term deal in free agency last season, but never got one after his rough stint with the Orioles after the 2023 trade deadline — he logged a 6.75 ERA over 34.2 innings with Baltimore.
Red Sox pitcher Nick Pivetta is an impending free agent and a contract extension seems unlikely. Garrett Whitlock will be on the shelf for months as he finishes his rehab from Tommy John surgery. Boston is going to need starters and Flaherty would be a fine choice — his right-handedness isn't preferable, as the Sox's rotation is made up of all righties, but they need all the elite help they can get.
The Red Sox front office promised fans they would spend when the next round of top prospects reach the big leagues, and the "Big Three" of Marcelo Mayer, Kyle Teel and Roman Anthony are projected to debut next season. Signing Flaherty or another big-ticket free-agent pitcher would be the Sox's biggest offseason move in years, and they're due for some impact signings.