Yankees pursued Jack Flaherty but couldn't match up - ESPN

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 utility man 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 him 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