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With the non-waiver trade deadline just over 24 hours away, the Yu Darvish talk talks are ramping up, with the Yankees and the Dodgers being the most active teams, according to TR Sullivan of MLB.com.
Darvish, who turns 31 in about two weeks, has struggled since the All-Star break, but he is 6-9 with a 4.01 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and .224 BAA. His ERA since the All-Star break is 7.36 with opposing batters hitting .286 off him. Despite his recent struggles, Darvish has garnered plenty of interest on the trade market.
There have been conflicting reports on the matter, as Buster Olney of ESPN noted that the Yankees “aren’t really involved” in Darvish, presumably after their recent acquisition of Jaime Garcia. Still, the Rangers are very intent on dealing Darvish, with the Dodgers and Yankees being the two most likely landing spots.
It has also been well-documented that the Yankees are in hot pursuit of Sonny Gray of Oakland, so that may make the Dodgers to favorite to land Darvish by tomorrow’s trade deadline. Los Angeles is reportedly targeting relief pitching in talks as well, though a deal for Darvish should not at all be ruled out.
Even if the Rangers do deal Darvish, who is set to be a free agent at the end of the season, they have expressed interest in re-signing him. Darvish has expressed interest in remaining with the Rangers through the trade deadline and ultimately re-signing with the club, but he is also curious to see what deal he could fetch on the free agent market. With that, Rangers’ GM Jon Daniels is likely to trade him.
To complicate matters, Sullivan also reports that there is a mystery team involved in these trade rumors. There has been increasing speculation from Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News that the Indians or Astros could be that mystery team, though the Rangers see the Astros as the least likely trade partner for Darvish. All the noted clubs are leading their respective divisions, so that speculation is warranted.
All of the listed teams rank in the top-10 in combined ERA among starters this season with Cleveland at 10, New York at 8, Houston at 5, and Los Angeles having the best combined ERA in their rotation. Darvish would only further strengthen a Dodgers rotation that recently saw their ace Clayton Kershaw placed on the DL, but should be back for the stretch run.