The Atlanta Braves likely will be one of the most active teams in baseball around the 2024 Major League Baseball trade deadline.
Atlanta arguably is the deepest team in baseball and that depth is being tested right now with Spencer Strider and Ronald Acuña Jr. both out. The Braves still have been one of the best teams in the National League this season but are severely undermanned.
The trade deadline will be here soon, though, and the Braves could make some major moves. One player who would make a lot of sense for Atlanta would be Detroit Tigers hurler Jack Flaherty. He was listed as the fourth-best pitcher who could be traded this summer by Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter.
"If the Detroit Tigers ultimately decide to sell, Jack Flaherty will be the top rental starter on the market this summer," Reuter said. "Still only 28 years old, he looked like an ace on the rise when he put together a brilliant second half for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2019 to finish fourth in NL Cy Young voting in his age-23 season
"However, injuries limited him to 154.2 total innings over the next three seasons, and while he stayed healthy last year, the results were hit-and-miss as he finished with a 4.99 ERA, 1.58 WHIP, and 148 strikeouts in 144.1 innings with the Cardinals and Orioles. The Tigers rolled the dice on a one-year, $14 million deal in free agency and he has been terrific, ranking among the AL leaders in ERA (3.01, ninth), WHIP (0.95, fifth), strikeouts (100, third) and strikeouts per nine innings (11.6, second)."
Flaherty has dealt with a plethora of injuries throughout his career so far but when he has been healthy, he has looked like a clear No. 1 starter. He's healthy right now and could be exactly what the Braves need in a trade this summer to help bolster the rotation down the stretch.
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