MLB trade rumor grade: Yu Darvish to the Indians?

We only have a little bit of time before the 2017 MLB non-waiver trade deadline is here, so let’s get right to it. The Indians want Yu Darvish, the Rangers want to trade Darvish, and we’re here to tell you how much fans of both teams should get their hopes up of this occurring in these few remaining hours before it no longer can.

The Rangers are not satisfied with the compensation they would receive for Darvish if they gave him a qualifying offer and he left the organization as a free agent. The new collective bargaining agreement basically dropped their potential compensation selection back 50 spots or so, and that’s just not going to cut it for a talent like Darvish.

What Texas hopes to do is trade Darvish, get prospects (emphasis on the plural there) back for him, and then attempt to re-sign Darvish this winter so that they have both Darvish and prospects and the Rangers can get right back to trying to win the AL West or a wild card spot again in 2018.

There is some risk there, but it’s pretty minimal. Maybe the Rangers don’t get the exact package they’d like back for Darvish, but it’s almost impossible for them to not do better than that potential comp pick, and their chances of re-signing Darvish probably aren’t any worse if they deal him, especially if their intentions are made clear before it goes down.

The Indians made the postseason in 2016 thanks to a stellar, near season-long run by their rotation. Their five primary starters made between 25 and 32 starts, and the lowest ERA+ in that group was 105, with the top being Corey Kluber’s 146 mark. They then advanced to the World Series (and came within a game of winning it all) on the back of Kluber and their bullpen, as both Danny Salazar and Carlos Carrasco were injured and unavailable to lean on in the way they were during the regular season.

The 2017 rotation is not getting much of anything from Josh Tomlin and Trevor Bauer, so even though Kluber, Carrasco, and Salazar are all contributing, and Mike Clevenger has done a great job of filling in the blanks, there is room for improvement. Kluber and Darvish together in a postseason rotation that also has Carrasco in it would be devastating to opposing teams, especially with Cleveland’s still-stupidly-jaw-dropping bullpen behind them.

Cleveland gaining Darvish would also help them secure an AL Central that has lost the competitiveness of the Twins and replaced it with the Royals, in what has basically been the equivalent of the real antagonist of a video game being revealed halfway through when it turns out you only defeated their underling.

If you’re picturing the Twins as Zio and the Royals as Dark Force, you’re reading my mind.

This one is an A-, which might seem high, but again, we’re hours from the deadline. The only reason this isn’t an A+ believable rumor is because the Yankees and Dodgers are still involved in Darvish negotiations.

With that being said, though, Yahoo’s Jeff Passan says the Dodgers and Rangers “simply aren’t matching up” despite repeated attempts to do so, and the Yankees remain focused on Sonny Gray as their primary target. That might leave the Indians as the only team willing to give the Rangers anything for Darvish, unless someone swoops in with a slightly better offer after realizing the coastal bullies have left the room.