The Los Angeles Dodgers acquired ace right-hander Yu Darvish for minor-league infielders Willie Calhoun and Brendon Davis, and right-hander A.J. Alexy, both teams announced after Monday's trade deadline had passed.
The Rangers have been slipping out of the postseason race the last few days and weeks, and with Darvish due to become a free agent after the season, the team decided to cash him in as a trade chip. They figure to make a strong effort to re-sign him after the season.
Darvish, 30, has pitched to a 4.01 ERA and 3.29 K/BB ratio in 22 starts this season. He's down a bit on the run prevention front, but he's on pace to top 200 innings for the first time since 2013.
The Darvish blockbuster in addition to their Monday additions of Tony Watson and Tony Cingrani suggest the Dodgers are indeed committed to making the World Series this season. Los Angeles is title-less since 1988 and they've had some very disappointing postseason exits in recent years.
As for the Rangers, they acquired the No. 4 (Calhoun), No. 17 (Alexy), and No. 27 (Davis) prospects in the Dodgers' system, per MLB.com. The 22-year-old Calhoun is the ideal AL player because he can really hit -- he owns a .298/.357/.574 batting line with 23 homers in 99 Triple-A games this year -- but doesn't have a set long-term position. Alexy and Davis are lower level high-upside lottery plays.
>>Yankees Add Ace Gray from A's
The Yankees acquired right-hander Sonny Gray from the Athletics just prior to the non-waiver trade deadline on Monday afternoon. Both teams confirmed the deal with just under an hour to go before the deadline.
Going back to Oakland are three prospects, OF Dustin Fowler, IF Jorge Mateo, RHP James Kaprielian.
The Yankees also got $1.5M in international bonus slot money as part of the deal.
Gray, 27, is coming off a disappointing 2016, but in 2017 he's thus far enjoyed a strong bounce-back campaign. On the year, he's got an ERA+ of 122 with a K/BB ratio of 3.13 after 17 starts.
Gray finished third in the AL Cy Young balloting in 2015, and of late he's looked very much like the ace he was during that season. He's not eligible for free agency until after the 2019 season, which no doubt contributed to his appeal on the trade market.
