Guardians could surprisingly land Tigers righty hurler as 'clock winds down'

Colin Keane

Guardians could surprisingly land Tigers righty hurler as 'clock winds down' image

The Cleveland Guardians are poised to make a pivotal trade on Tuesday.

Cleveland desires another starting pitcher, and although starters started flying off the board on Monday, there still remain a couple for the Guardians to move on.

One of those arms is Jack Flaherty of the Detroit Tigers, who Cleveland should prepare an offer for, according to one insider.

Gabe Lacques of USA Today suggested on Monday that the Guardians could capitalize on Flaherty's availability and pull off an enormous deal.

"Monday was a tough one for the Guardians, who saw the reasonably-priced Erick Fedde go to St. Louis in a three-way trade, sentient Frankie Montas get shipped from Cincinnati to Milwaukee, struggling but effective Yusei Kikuchi (Toronto to Houston) and Michael Lorenzen (Texas to Kansas City) slip off the board," Lacques said.

"That leaves not a lot for a club that has so many excellent playoff pieces in place: A dominant and brilliantly-deployed bullpen, a contact-friendly and dynamic offense and a few serviceable starting pitchers. ... Can they swing an intra-division deal for Jack Flaherty? That’s one of few dwindling options to upgrade as the clock winds down."

By acquiring Flaherty, Cleveland could land on a true No. 1 starter, something their otherwise brilliant ball club currently lacks.

Flaherty has other powerful suitors, so the Guardians will have to prepare a robust offer for the Tigers.

With a five and a half game lead in the American League Central entering Tuesday, Cleveland has the playoffs in its near future. The Guardians could be closer to a World Series than people think, and adding Flaherty would turn a lot of heads.

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Colin Keane

Colin Keane Photo

Colin Keane is a contributing journalist for The Sporting News. Born in Illinois, Colin grew up in Massachusetts as the third of four brothers. For his high school education, Colin attended St. Mark's School (Southborough, MA), where he played basketball and soccer and served as student body president. He went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Villanova University. Colin currently resides in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.