Insider reveals why Yankees backed out of trade for top available SP

On Tuesday night, The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reported that the New York Yankees backed out of the Jack Flaherty sweepstakes ahead of the trade deadline due to concerns over the right-hander's medical history.

The 28-year-old starting pitcher was traded from the Detroit Tigers to the Los Angeles Dodgers, and while the Yankees did add star infielder/outfielder Jazz Chisholm Jr., they failed to add to their starting rotation.

Rosenthal wrote that the Tigers and Yankees had a "preliminary trade agreement" in place, but New York was turned off after looking at Flaherty's medical records.

"The issue with Flaherty, his lower back, forced him to miss a start at the beginning of July and receive two injections in a span of three weeks," the insider reported .

According to the report, Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris told Detroit media members that he "can't comment on medical stuff with trades" and that they'd "have to ask the other teams."

Harris added that Flaherty was "healthy" and would've started in the Motor City on Thursday if he hadn't been moved.

According to Rosenthal's report, the 2014 first-round pick has made three starts since missing one turn through the rotation with a back problem and has registered a 1.53 ERA across 17 2/3 innings pitched.

Flaherty went 7-5 with a 2.95 ERA, career-low 0.95 WHIP and 133 strikeouts over 106 2/3 innings covering 18 starts with the Tigers in 2024.

The report added that when the Yankees exited the race for Flaherty, "word spread throughout the industry, and other teams became aware of New York’s concerns."

Rosenthal added that only the Dodgers and Yankees reviewed the former longtime St. Louis Cardinal's medical records.