Yu Darvish missed all or part of the past three seasons due to elbow problems, but he's back and pitching like an ace. He's striking out more than a batter per inning and posting an ERA under 3.00. He's using his incredibly vast repertoire that features four pitches on a regular basis: four- and two-seam fastballs, cutters and sliders. But he goes as deep as six or even eight pitches if the situation calls for it, with changeups, splitters and a couple of different curveballs. And since Darvish came into the league in 2012, there are just five pitchers who have more innings, a better ERA and a better FIP than he does: Clayton Kershaw, Max Scherzer, Chris Sale, David Price and Madison Bumgarner.
This summer, Darvish could become the best pitcher available in a trade -- a true ace who could push a team to the playoffs, start a wild-card game or match up with any pitcher to start a playoff series. But he's also a free agent at season's end, which makes him a stretch-drive rental for teams that might try to trade for him.
Let's take a look at the teams that could need Darvish the most the rest of the way -- including his current team, the Texas Rangers.
Texas Rangers: Darvish's best fit might just be his current team. After a really rough start, the Rangers have rebounded back to above .500 and put themselves in the discussion for a playoff spot. If the Rangers have any shot at October, Darvish is going to be a big part of that.
But there are several complications. The first is the first-place Houston Astros. The Rangers' cross-state rivals have jumped out to a huge lead and have the edge in talent, and there is already talk of Houston bolstering its roster further. While the division isn't necessarily out of reach for Texas, after the Astros' hot start, it's about as close as it could be near the end of May.
If the Rangers keep Darvish, the wild card is the more realistic goal, but that could prove difficult, as well. The two teams between the Red Sox, Yankees and Orioles that don't win the AL East are favored to snag the remaining playoff spots. Even if both of the non-division-winning teams falter, the Rangers are still in a situation more similar to that of the Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Angels, Seattle Mariners, Tampa Bay Rays and maybe even the Toronto Blue Jays. That's eight teams for two spots.
If the Rangers are going to keep Darvish, they are going to need to go all-in, and it might not make sense with such a small chance of success. Cole Hamels is likely out until July, but the boost he is likely to provide will still leave the Rangers behind other contenders when it comes to starting pitching. They might be better off keeping their farm system intact and strengthening their immediate future by moving Darvish and fellow free agents Jonathan Lucroy and Carlos Gomez for a haul at the deadline to reload for next season.
Colorado Rockies: Colorado has quickly moved from pleasant surprise to legit contender. FanGraphs has moved the team's playoff odds up above 50 percent thanks to its good start after starting the season at about 10 percent.
The team has gotten good results from three under-25 starters in Kyle Freeland, Antonio Senzatela and German Marquez, but Freeland has walked almost as many batters as he has struck out, and both he and Senzatela are striking out fewer than 15 percent of batters, well below the league-average 20 percent figure. Pitching at Coors makes strikeouts a bit harder to come by, but Freeland and Senzatela aren't striking out any more batters on the road, and any Coors effect isn't enough to account for a mark that's one-quarter lower than the rest of baseball.
The Rockies rotation's two Tylers -- Chatwood and Anderson -- have not pitched well, although some of that could be bad luck in terms of home run rate. On the eventual plus side, they should receive a boost from the return of Jonathan Gray.
The Rockies might not be an obvious ideal fit for Darvish, but they have a good farm system and the franchise hasn't had a winning season since 2010 or a playoff team since 2009. For a team that has won more than 83 games in a season just twice in its 24 years of existence, it might be time to push a little bit and take advantage of a National League playoff race that looks wide open.
Chicago Cubs: The defending world champions haven't gotten off to a great start this season, with their offense, defense and rotation all taking a step back from their 103-win performance last year. And while the Cubs still have depth on the position-player side, they don't have a lot of help in the organization should their starters continue to falter.
The Cubs have been incredibly fortunate to have their three best pitchers -- Jon Lester, Jake Arrieta and Kyle Hendricks -- all remain both healthy and effective during playoff runs in 2015 and 2016. Add in John Lackey's steady performance from last year, and the Cubs never had to dip too deep into their depth.
This season could be a different story. Lester remains very good, but Arrieta has moved from a ground ball specialist to homer-prone, fly ball pitcher as his velocity has eroded. Hendricks walked one or fewer batters in 17 of his 30 starts last season but has done so just once in eight starts this year. John Lackey has been a bit homer-prone himself and hasn't received the same benefits from a great Cubs defense that he got last year. Fifth starter Brett Anderson has already been sent to the disabled list after a rough start.
The Cubs don't need Darvish, but their mediocre start might create a battle for the NL Central. If the Cubs want to add more distance in the talent level between themselves and the Cardinals, Darvish would provide them some peace of mind. The Cubs' farm system isn't as deep as it was a year ago, but they still have the pieces to acquire Darvish if the rotation doesn't rebound.
Baltimore Orioles: Speaking of the tight race in the American League East, perhaps no team could use Darvish more than the O's. Baltimore's best pitcher has been 24-year-old Dylan Bundy, but last season's 109 ⅔ innings pitched represented a professional high for the oft-injured righty. He's already halfway to that mark this season, and his low strikeout rate and some sequencing luck so far means that his 2.26 ERA isn't likely to remain that low going forward.
That's their lone real rotation highlight. Wade Miley's 15 percent walk rate is the worst in baseball among starters and an indication that his 3.02 ERA won't hold up. Kevin Gausman hasn't pitched well, Chris Tillman was hurt early on and the team has already used eight starters this season. Ubaldo Jimenez has pitched as well as can be expected, which is to say, not very good. FanGraphs' Depth Chart projections have the Orioles as the worst rotation in the American League going forward.
Getting Zach Britton back should stabilize the bullpen, but in a crowded fight for both the division and the wild card, the Orioles are going to need some help on the mound, and the move with the biggest impact could come through the rotation.
New York Yankees: The Yankees' road back to contention appears to be a bit ahead of schedule, with strong starts from Aaron Judge, Brett Gardner, Chase Headley, Starlin Castro and a resurgent Matt Holliday. With Gary Sanchez back from the disabled list, the Yankees have a good group of position players to score runs with. With Aroldis Chapman and Dellin Betances anchoring the bullpen, that group looks to be in good shape as long as Chapman returns fine from injury.
Where the Yankees might need some help is their rotation. Masahiro Tanaka is the Yankees' would-be ace, but his ERA and FIP are both above 5.00. He has pitched adequately this season despite a couple blowups against the Tampa Bay Rays on Opening Day and against the Houston Astros the past Sunday, but he has missed parts of each of the past three seasons with arm injuries. Inconsistent performance coupled with a less-than-stellar injury history doesn't inspire confidence that he will repeat a very good 2016 season or take the ball in an important playoff game.
The rest of the rotation has had its moments. Luis Severino and Michael Pineda have pitched well but not great, and Jordan Montgomery has been solid, but it is not reasonable to expect much from the 24-year-old lefty in the No. 5 slot. CC Sabathia has gone back to not pitching well, and the Yankees appear to be in a very difficult fight for the division title or a wild-card berth.
The Yankees have an excellent farm system, and using it to acquire a pitcher of Darvish's caliber would increase their odds of winning the division while providing them with an ace who could get them past the play-in-or-go-home challenge of the wild card. And Darvish is the type of pitcher teams can rely on to go multiple starts in the playoffs, increasing their chances of winning a postseason series -- something that Yankees haven't done in five years.