Astros: Would the Rangers trade Yu Darvish to a division rival?

There is not much of a chance the Astros would trade for Darvish.

The Houston Astros are having their best start in franchise history at 42-16. This team is looking to build on this hot start and carry them deep into the playoffs. With that goal in mind, the Astros will add another starting pitcher at the trade deadline. Whether you agree or not, it’s very likely to happen.

However, it is not likely that the Astros will make a trade within the division. The one exception could be Sonny Gray from the A’s. It is not normal for one division foe to help its competitors get better. Not to say it has never happened, but it’s not common.

One example was when the Angels traded Josh Hamilton back to the Rangers, but that was just to get rid of him. The Rangers have gotten a few players from the Astros via waivers and Rule V draft selections. However, would the Rangers trade a player who could help the Astros go all the way?

What about Yu?

On this week’s Talking Stros, we discussed the idea of trading for Yu Darvish. It began with a caller who suggested that and I said there was 0% chance. By the time my co-host Brandon and the call explained themselves, I raised the chances to 1%. In my opinion, both sides don’t want to help the other out.

While I’m not going to say it won’t happen, but the Rangers don’t want to trade him to a team that they would have face often. Darvish is currently the Rangers ace with Cole Hamels out. He has a 5-4 record with a 3.13 ERA with 80 strikeouts in 74 2/3 innings. The Astros recently touched him up a little.

According to Fangraphs, Darvish is throwing the fastball at an average 94.2 mph. This is the highest of his career so it would appear that he has recovered from Tommy John surgery. There will be many teams after him, including the Yankees. This is the team I see him landing with.

The Cowboys wouldn’t trade Tony Romo to the Texans, why would the Rangers?

The Astros view

Forget the Rangers, would Astros fans really want to improve their team in the future? Brett Phillips made his MLB debut for the Brewers yesterday. It wasn’t that big of a deal because they are not in the same division. Imagine having to face Francis Martes and Derek Fisher with the Rangers for the next seven years. That would be a hard pill to swallow.

Next: Astros: Unexpected flight of Brad Peacock

Then there would be the asking price, they will ask for more from the Astros than any other team. There are plenty of other fish in the sea, let’s let someone else get this rental. The Astros could be after someone who will be part of multiple postseason runs, not just this year.

***Stats from Baseball-Reference and Fangraphs***