He leads all of baseball in starts made thus far, with 21, and he is still having a solid season. Furthermore, he would be another lefty, similar to Crochet and Skubal, and the Dodgers signed him because to his impressive performance.

Tyler Glasnow and Clayton Kershaw are making their way back to the Dodgers’ rotation for LA’s series against the Giants this week, but the starting core is still only at half-power, if that. Walker Buehler and Yoshinobu Yamamoto remain TBD, and Buehler was struggling before he left. Bobby Miller is back down in Triple-A without any promise of return.

So the Dodgers will be looking for at least one starter at the trade deadline. They’ve already reportedly made a significant offer to the White Sox for Garrett Crochet and are still in that chase, and could be willing to give up even more if it looks like the Tigers will waver on Tarik Skubal.

Crochet and Skubal would be top-line, but if either proves out of the Dodgers’ reach, there are good options on the next tier down who could be of interest to them. ESPN’s Buster Olney specifically named another Tigers starter in Jack Flaherty and the Blue Jays’ Yusei Kikuchi, both of whom are almost certainly going to move at the deadline.

For more news and rumors, check out MLB insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, and join the discord to get the inside scoop as we near the July 30 MLB trade deadline.

ESPN’s Buster Olney names Jack Flaherty, Yusei Kikuchi as potential rotation targets for Dodgers

Both Flaherty and Kikuchi would be rentals if the Dodgers went either route, and Kikuchi would be somewhat cheaper ($10 million to Flaherty’s $14 million salary in 2024). Kikuchi has a bit of a longer history of productivity than Flaherty across MLB and NPB, and despite some heavy struggles over his last seven appearances, his 21 starts lead all of baseball so far and he’s still putting together a respectable season. Not only that, but he’d be another lefty (like Crochet and Skubal) to join the struggling James Paxton.

Flaherty, on the other hand, has been great for the Tigers, and has put together a great bounce back season after being traded and then demoted to the Orioles’ bullpen last year. Although he’s had some lower back tightness since June that might be a tad worrisome, it could make him cheaper for the Dodgers. Despite missing a few starts since the issue started, he’s avoided an IL stint so far. For what it’s worth, he grew up in Los Angeles and starred at Harvard Westlake. Adding a native Dodgers fan is never a bad thing.