Dodgers get Darvish; Yanks deal for Gray
Right- handers Yu Darvish and Sonny Gray headed a parade of prized arms on the move Monday, leaving little doubt on trade- deadline day: Top teams made a big pitch for the playoffs.
Right- handers Brandon Kintzler and Addison Reed were among the many relievers swapped before the cutoff. In all, there were 14 deals involving major- leaguers.
‘‘ We’re trying to go from good to great,’’ Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said.
The Yankees bolstered their rotation by getting Gray from the Athletics for three minor- leaguers. That swap came a day after they acquired left- hander Jaime Garcia from the Twins.
The Dodgers, who have the best record — and the top payroll — in the majors, gave up three minorleaguers for Darvish. He will join three- time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw, who is currently on the disabled list, as the Dodgers try to reach the World Series for the first time since their 1988 title.
‘‘ We’re not going to be lining up our playoff rotation quite yet,’’ Dodgers GM Farhan Zaidi said.
The Dodgers also added lefthanded relievers Tony Watson from the Pirates and Tony Cingrani from the Reds.
A few stars mentioned in trade speculation stayed put. Orioles closer Zach Britton, Tigers righthander Justin Verlander and Padres left- hander Brad Hand were among them.
‘‘ We just didn’t line up at this time,’’ Padres GM A. J. Preller said.
Teams had until 3 p. m. Central time tomake trades without waivers. For the rest of the season, players can be dealt only if every other team passes on a chance to claim them.
The Astros plucked left- hander Francisco Liriano from the Blue Jays. He’ll help patch a rotation that has dealt with injuries to Dallas Keuchel, Lance McCullers and Collin McHugh.
A season after the Cubs and Indians used deep bullpens to reach the World Series, several teams boosted their relief corps.
In addition to the Dodgers’ acquisitions of Watson and Cingrani, the Nationals got Kintzler from the Twins after recently acquiring relievers Ryan Madson and Sean Doolittle from the A’s.
And the Red Sox added Reed, who had been serving as the Mets’ closer. Reed, who is 1- 2 with a 2.57 ERA and 19 saves in 21 chances, joins a bullpen that includes dominant closer Craig Kimbrel.
Like a lot of other executives, Red Sox president Dave Dombrowski was on the prowl for pitching.
‘‘ We liked a lot of the guys,’’ he said. ‘‘ We were inquiring about a lot of the guys. My list is long.’’ How long? Dombrowski reached into the left pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out an 8- inch- by- 11- inch piece of paper. He then counted — by ones — ‘‘ 20 right- handed relievers that were on our list at one time or another and a lot of lefties, too.’’