Bleacher Report predicts Dodgers will re-sign trade deadline acquisition (which raises questions)

Jack Flaherty was exactly what the Dodgers needed at the trade deadline. Walker Buehler was still rehabbing, Clayton Kershaw had returned but looked shaky, Yoshinobu Yamamoto had been moved to the 60-day IL a few weeks before, and LA had DFA'ed (and then traded) James Paxton to the Red Sox.

Although Garrett Crochet came off the board in the last minutes before the deadline, with the White Sox content to keep him, the Dodgers pivoted and grabbed Flaherty from the Tigers in a trade that's kind of worked out for everyone involved. Trey Sweeney made his MLB debut with the Tigers and is fighting for a 2025 roster spot, and Thayron Liranzo is still ascending through prospect rankings.

Since joining the Dodgers, Flaherty's made six starts (two quality) to a 3.18 ERA. During his latest outing, he took LA through 5 2/3 innings against the Diamondbacks and only allowed one run while striking out seven batters, en route to an 11-6 Dodgers victory.

Flaherty is clearly making an argument for a contract, and probably with the Dodgers, when he hits free agency at the end of the season. Bleacher Report predicted that Flaherty would be re-signed, likely on a longer and more lucrative deal. However, the Dodgers re-signing him would complicate things for Walker Buehler, whose future with LA is very much in jeopardy.

Jack Flaherty re-signing with Dodgers in the offseason could put Walker Buehler's future (even more) in jeopardy

Buehler is pitching for his life right now. He hasn't looked like even a shadow of his former self this season since coming off of the IL for the first time since 2022, then going back onto it, then coming back again. He has a 5.67 ERA in 12 starts with the Dodgers, and probably can't even worry too much about his future in free agency when he has more a immediate concern: where he'll end up on the postseason roster.

Flaherty has made his argument for the Dodgers to re-sign him clear this season, but Buehler is a homegrown Dodger who's given the team two Cy Young candidacy years and two All-Star seasons. Trust in him is waning, but he did look better in his most recent start against the Angels, and the Dodgers may believe that they can still get him back to where he once was. He also has a better long-term track record than Flaherty.

Even without Flaherty and Buehler in the equation at all, the Dodgers rotation looks stacked for 2025. Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Gavin Stone, hopefully Shohei Ohtani, maybe Tony Gonsolin, and maybe Clayton Kershaw will be options for them next year. Gonsolin complicates things even more, as he'll be coming back from a long absence, and the Dodgers may not want to cede a rotation spot to him that could instead go to a more known and less recently injured pitcher.

All of this is to say that the Dodgers probably should re-sign Flaherty, and his performance this season is making Buehler's life much harder. Keeping both just isn't feasible, so they could really be going head-to-head in these few months of the season.