Revisiting the Dodgers-Rangers Trade Involving Yu Darvish

The Los Angeles Dodgers have been no strangers to making huge splashes at the MLB trade deadline. They've coveted securing their first World Series title since 1988, and back in 2017 they had their best shot, but wanted to really put the team over the edge.

So, the Dodgers completed a last-second trade with the Texas Rangers to acquire the services of ace pitcher Yu Darvish in exchange for prospects Willie Calhoun, AJ Alexy, and Brendon Davis.

At the time of the trade, Darvish was 6-9 with a 4.01 ERA on a team well out of playoff contention. Not to mention, Darvish was set to become a free agent at season's end, and the Rangers had no desire to re-sign him. The Dodgers pounced at the opportunity to create a one-two punch with Darvish and Clayton Kershaw at the top of the rotation.

In his nine regular season starts with Los Angeles, Darvish went 4-3 with a 3.44 ERA while striking out 61 batters over 49.2 innings. Things appeared to be going well, but then the postseason started.

Darvish was impressive in his starts in the NLDS and NLCS against the Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago Cubs. Once the World Series began against the Houston Astros, Darvish's 1.42 ERA skyrocketed to unprecedented heights. He had two starts in the big series, but failed to get out of the second inning in both, surrendering four earned runs each outing. The end result saw Darvish's 2017 postseason ERA skyrocket to 21.60, which swiftly had him fall out of favor with LA fans.

The Dodgers wouldn't re-up with Darvish after the season, instead allowing him to sign a $125 million contract with the Cubs. The bold move nearly paid off considering LA was one game away from winning the Fall Classic, and may have actually won if not for the Astros' cheating scandal.

As for the prospects involved, let's take a look at their situations a couple of years later.

• Calhoun made his debut in 2017 and has since slashed .258/.311/.468 with 62 runs scored, 24 home runs and 63 RBI across 131 games.

• Alexy is still just 22 years old and hasn't gotten past High-A in the minors, though he did play in the Arizona Fall League this past season. He's 10-18 with a 3.75 ERA and 1.27 WHIP across 58 games (52 starts).

• Davis is only 22 and has reached Double-A with Texas. He's slashing just .234/.316/.339 in 484 career minor league games, so it's safe to say he might not be making the bigs anytime soon with the Rangers.

This is a win for the Dodgers considering they traded from positions of surplus and came within one game of winning a title.