‘An honour’ for Darvish to be wanted by Dodgers

The loaded Los Angeles Dodgers made a late trade for Texas ace Yu Darvish on Monday, their boldest move in pursuit of a World Series crown that’s eluded them for nearly 30 years.

The runaway NL West leaders, already with the best record in the majors and the highest payroll, acquired Darvish for three minor league players: second baseman/outfielder Willie Calhoun, righthander A.J. Alexy and infielder Brendon Davis.

“It’s an honour to be wanted by the team,” Darvish said through a translator.

The 30-year-old Darvish is a four-time All-Star. The right-hander is 6-9 with a 4.01 ERA in 22 starts this season as he comes back from Tommy John surgery.

Darvish is 0-5 with a 5.81 ERA over his last eight starts. He was tagged for a career-worst 10 runs in his last outing, and later revealed that he was tipping his pitches to the Marlins.

The Japanese star said he got a call from his agent right before Monday’s 4 p.m. EDT deadline for making trades without waivers.

“I was mentally prepared for the announcement,” Darvish said.

At Globe Life Park, where the struggling Rangers were set to host Seattle, Darvish said he had “nothing but appreciation” for his time in Texas.

Darvish can become a free agent after this season. Asked whether he would consider a return to the Rangers, he said he would have to wait and see.

Darvish made his major league debut with Texas in 2012. He missed the entire 2015 season while recovering from elbow surgery.

Dodgers rookie first baseman Cody Bellinger tweeted a greeting to Darvish even before the deal was official.

The Dodgers haven’t won the World Series since 1988, when Orel Hershiser was their ace. They’ve reached the playoffs 10 times since, including the last four years with star Clayton Kershaw.

Meanwhile, pitcher Sonny Gray was traded to the Yankees from the Oakland Athletics for three prospects on Monday, boosting New York’s starting rotation for an unexpected playoff run.

Oakland received Jorge Mateo, a top shortstop-outfielder prospect at DoubleA; right-hander James Kaprielian, the 16th overall pick in the 2015 amateur draft who is recovering from Tommy John surgery on April 18; and Dustin Fowler, an outfielder who ruptured the patellar tendon in his right knee in the first inning of his major league debut on June 29, ending his season. New York also receives $1.5 million in international signing bonus allocation from the A’s.

Gray slots into the middle of a rotation for the AL East leaders that includes Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka, CC Sabathia and Jaime Garcia, who was acquired Sunday from Minnesota.

A 27-year-old righthander who has been slowed by a series of injuries, Gray is 6-5 with a 3.43 ERA in 16 starts this season and is 4-2 with a 1.37 ERA in his last six starts. He makes $3.575 million and is not eligible for free agency until after the 2019 season.