NL West-leading Dodgers land Texas ace Darvish

ARLINGTON, TEXAS » 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 the 6-foot-5 right-hander from Japan for three minor league players in a deal Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said was completed in the last 10 minutes before the non-waiver trade deadline.

“It’s an honor to be wanted by the team,” Darvish said through his translator, adding that he had “nothing but appreciation” for his time in Texas.

Darvish was an All-Star this year for the fourth time in his five seasons playing for the Rangers. He joined Texas before the 2012 season, and missed all of 2015 after elbow surgery. In 22 starts this season, he is 6-9 with a 4.01 ERA.

In 122 starts overall for the Rangers, he was 52-39 with a 3.42 ERA and 960 strikeouts over 782 2-3 innings. But the pitcher who turns 31 on Aug. 16 was 0-5 with a 5.81 ERA in his last eight starts.

Rangers manager Jeff Banister said he wished Darvish luck and challenged him to do something memorable.

“There were times where he was just dominating as we’ve seen previously with the fastball, the swing-andmiss slider, the sinker, the split, slow curve,” Banister said. “He’s going to wipe out hitters on days when his stuff is there. You’re going to sit back and watch, and marvel just what he does.”

In return for the ace that initially cost the Rangers more than $107 million to acquire, Los Angeles sent them second baseman/ outfielder Willie Calhoun, right-hander A.J. Alexy and infielder Brendon Davis to the Rangers.