A’s Gray could set Darvish market

With the Rangers in a slump and the wild card a long shot, the wheels of a potential trade of Yu Darvish are starting to creak.

Reports Friday indicated that the Rangers were gauging interest in Darvish.

And if anything, Darvish increased his value Friday night. He allowed three runs on five hits with one walk and 12 strikeouts in eight innings of the Rangers’ 4-3 victory over the Rays. Elvis Andrus singled home the goahead run in the 10th as the Rangers ended a five-game losing streak.

What the Rangers must ascertain before Darvish’s next scheduled start Wednesday is: What is his market? And that might not be determined until the A’s Sonny Gray moves — if he does.

Gray is more attractive than Darvish to most contenders because, at 27, he’s three years younger and he’s under control for two years after this season.

If forced to give up a strong package of prospects, teams would prefer something more than a rental player. Gray may be a slightly lesser pitcher than Darvish but is still an upperrotation starter. The extra control makes him more attractive.

If the Rangers are to extract the best package for Darvish, it behooves them to wait for Gray to be traded and then start getting aggressive with the teams left standing.

And there will be teams left standing. The Yankees, Astros, Brewers and Cubs are all interested in starting pitching.

The Rangers likely can’t get a blockbuster package for Darvish, but they might be able to get one top prospect and two lesser ones.

They have eight games left before the trade deadline. Losing even three would guarantee they’d be a below-.500 team at the deadline.