MLB Trade Rumors: Yu Darvish could become available, per report

MLB Trade Rumors: Yu Darvish is the Texas Rangers’ top starting pitcher, a free agent heading into the offseason that the Rangers want to bring back. The Rangers have also indicated that they are not looking to sell at this point, with the team still in the Wild Card hunt.

However, Jon Heyman says the Rangers have told teams that if they drop farther in the race, Yu Darvish “could become available.” I don’t know that this is particularly surprising, but it does seem to be the first report that the Rangers have at least indicated a willingness to move Yu.

Whether Texas shops, or listens, on Yu probably depends in large part on how the next five days go, with Texas playing two more games in Baltimore (after losing the first two games of their four games series) before heading to Minnesota for three. Winning three or more probably keeps the Rangers on their current path, but a bad finish to the road trip could see Yu, as well as others, get dealt.

That said, I suspect the Rangers are going to want to get a significant return if they deal Yu. Moving him just because he’s a free agent at season’s end and they want something better than the compensatory second round pick they’d receive if they left would seem to be unlikely, given the mutual interest the team and Yu have in Darvish coming back next season. And there’s no indication as of yet that teams are ready to blow sellers away in order to get a rental top-of-the-rotation starter.

But that could change, and it takes just one team making an offer Jon Daniels can’t refuse to alter the calculus...