The Los Angeles Dodgers officially announced their trade with the Texas Rangers, acquiring Yu Darvish in exchange for A.J. Alexy, Willie Calhoun and Brendon Davis. Most notably, the Dodgers completed the deal without losing Yadier Alvarez, Walker Buehler or Alex Verdugo.
Darvish went 6-9 with a 4.01 ERA, 3.98 FIP and 1.17 WHIP in 22 starts for the Rangers this season. His last outing for the team was one to forget, as Darvish allowed a career-worst 10 runs which in turn inflated his ERA.
The subpar start added to some concern over Darvish’s recent struggles, but it ultimately did to the interest the Rangers received for their ace.
Darvish was named an All-Star in all but one of his six years (five seasons pitching) with the Rangers. He missed all of 2015 after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
Darvish, who will turn 31 years old on Aug. 16, is a career 52-39 with a 3.42 ERA. He’s eligible for free agency this winter.
Calhoun hit .298/.357/.574 with 24 doubles, five triples, 23 home runs and 67 RBI over 99 games this season with Triple-A Oklahoma City. He led the team in doubles, RBI, slugging percentage and was second in total hits (111).
For as well as he’s swung the bat, there are concerns over whether Calhoun is capable of playing second base at the Major League level. That led to an expectation Calhoun would eventually be traded to an American League team, where he can serve as a designated hitter.
Davis began this with Low-A Great Lakes and was promoted to High-A Rancho Cucamonga one week ago. He hit a combined .241/.350/.403 with 22 doubles, three triples, nine home runs and 43 RBI in 94 games. Davis was selected by the Dodgers in the fifth round of the 2015 Draft.
Alexy was in his second season with the Dodgers and first with the Loons. He went 2-6 with a 3.67 ERA in 19 starts.
The Dodgers designated Mike Freeman for assignment to create room for Darvish on the 40-man roster. Freeman appeared in four games with Los Angeles this year, going 0-for-5, after being claimed off waivers from the Seattle Mariners on May 26, 2017.
