With the recent loss of ace Clayton Kershaw to a back injury, the Los Angeles Dodgers may feel some added sense of urgency to add a starting pitcher before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. Their best option could lie with the Texas Rangers in ace Yu Darvish.
The Rangers are in an interesting position, as they begin Tuesday just 3.5 games back of the second American League Wild Card spot. Texas bounced back from a five-game losing streak to rattle off three wins in a row. That streak was snapped Monday by the Miami Marlins.
Thus, while holding a valuable trade chip, the Rangers aren’t necessarily facing a scenario where they must sell. That appears to be the case, as the Rangers are said to be against trading Darvish, via T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com:
The needle seems to swing with every trade rumor and tweet that emerges, but Major League sources indicated Monday the Rangers were strongly leaning toward not trading Darvish unless they are overwhelmed by an offer or their postseason hopes crash with another losing streak this week.
It wasn’t until late last week that it was reported the Rangers were gauging interest for a potential trade of Darvish. What further complicates their stance is the right-hander is eligible to reach free agency this winter.
In 21 starts this season, his second since returning from Tommy John surgery, Darvish is 6-8 with a 3.44 ERA, 3.84 FIP and 1.12 WHIP. He has 143 strikeouts against 43 walks over 133.1 innings pitched.
If the Rangers are to pursue a trade with the Dodgers for Darvish, they reportedly would want two prospects from the group of Yadier Alvarez, Walker Buehler, Willie Calhoun and Alex Verdugo. Los Angeles hasn’t shown much of an inclination to trade any of their top prospects.
Should the Dodgers elect to pass on Darvish in part due to him being a rental, they could shift attention to controllable pitcher Sonny Gray or Justin Verlander.
