MLB trade rumors: Indians have had talks with Rangers about Yu Darvish

The Cleveland Indians have reportedly had talks with the Texas Rangers about starting pitcher Yu Darvish, MLB Network’s Jon Morosi has reported. They have probably also talked with several other teams about starting pitchers, and several other teams have probably asked about Darvish. Trade deadline season!

Darvish is in the midst of a career-worst year, which is bad news for his own personal payday, and for the Rangers as he heads into the final half-year of his contract. His ERA, FIP, and even xFIP are higher than ever at 4.01, 3.98, and 3.81, respectively. His strikeout rate also sits at a career-low 26.2 percent.

All of that could be a reason why the Rangers have reportedly received underwhelming offers for the 30-year-old righty. Maybe the Indians think they can swoop in and grab him on a steep discount, because three months of Darvish probably isn’t worth a top prospect like Francisco Mejia or even Triston McKenzie, especially considering the Indians recently announced a six-man rotation before Josh Tomlin went down with hamstring tightness. Even if Tomlin is out for an extended period of time, they’d be “down” to a five-man rotation.

Darvish wouldn’t be a horrible fit in the rotation, and an upgrade for Trevor Bauer or Mike Clevinger, but not if he would require prospects based on his track record, because everything points to him not being the Cy Young contender he once was. So let’s all hope this is more pointless trade deadline talks and nothing more.