Dodgers use 'stroke of genius' to acquire 'best starter who was traded'

The Los Angeles Dodgers walked away victorious from Tuesday's trade deadline.

Not only were the Dodgers able to outbid the New York Yankees for Gold Glover Tommy Edman, Los Angeles snagged the best starting pitcher who switched teams, and for a bargain price at that.

In acquiring Jack Flaherty from the Detroit Tigers, the Dodgers reinforced their favorable position as bona fide World Series contenders heading into August.

USA Today's Bob Nightengale praised Los Angeles' deadline moves in a report released late Tuesday evening.

"You didn’t think that (Dodgers president of baseball operations) Andrew Friedman would just sit back, lament the injuries to their star players and take their chances, did you?" Nightengale said.

"The Dodgers seized the moment again by grabbing the best starter who was traded, Jack Flaherty of the Tigers ... It was a sheer stroke of genius, or perhaps patience, that they got Flaherty, a homegrown kid from Los Angeles, for only two prospects. They wound up getting Flaherty for much less than the Houston Astros paid to acquire Yusei Kikuchi."

Flaherty, 28, hails from Harvard-Westlake School (Los Angeles), out of which he was drafted No. 34 overall by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2014 Major League Baseball draft.

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