Cardinals rumors: Jack Flaherty trade fell through, Willson Contreras safe, Waino on 200

Cardinals Rumors: Jack Flaherty trade to Tampa Bay Rays fell through

The St. Louis Cardinals were trade deadline sellers, with special attention paid to the bullpen. Multiple starting arms were shipped elsewhere, including new Baltimore Orioles righty Jack Flaherty. The Cards received two of the Orioles' top-20 prospects for their troubles and Flaherty joined the pitching staff for the best team in the American League.

Few teams have taken off into the stratosphere quite like Baltimore since Flaherty's arrival. He's hardly the sole reason for the Orioles' success, but his presence in the starting rotation has been a steady salve. It hasn't been a particularly good stretch of games for Flaherty — 1-2 with a 7.16 ERA and 1.663 WHIP in six starts — but he's a proven arm on a staff short in that department. It can only get better from here.

While the Orioles were no doubt keen on getting Flaherty in the locker room, the 27-year-old almost ended up with a different AL East team. According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the Tampa Bay Rays agreed in principle to a deal for Flaherty in the final hours before the Aug. 1 deadline, but medical concerns not related to Flaherty derailed the agreement. He was sent to Baltimore instead.

As fate would have it, the Orioles and Rays are grappling for position atop the AL East standings. Baltimore has held steady in first place with a 91-53 record, but Tampa is only three games back at 89-57. The Rays have to feel particularly grumpy about the way events unfolded here, but Flaherty's lukewarm performance in recent weeks could make the Tampa front office feel slightly better.