Yankees and Dodgers Make Big Moves, Hoping to Be Juggernauts

“We’ve been playing really good baseball, and to be honest, we were trying to balance making the team better without disrupting what we had,” Dodgers General Manager Farhan Zaidi said. “We were very specific in what we wanted to add. It’s definitely an emotional boost for the team, but it’s hard to say they need it, the way they’ve been playing.”

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The Dodgers are 74-31 and have won eight games in a row. In the era of the 162-game schedule, which dates to the early 1960s, only two other teams have won more through 105 games: the 1998 Yankees and the 2001 Seattle Mariners.

That Yankees team finished with 114 victories in the regular season and won the World Series. The Mariners, though, fell short of the World Series — a feeling the Dodgers know all too well.

The Dodgers have won four consecutive National League West titles but have fallen twice in division series and twice in the N.L. Championship Series. It gets worse: Their past 10 playoff teams — featuring a constellation of stars including Mike Piazza, Adrian Beltre, Jeff Kent, Manny Ramirez and Zack Greinke — have all been eliminated before the World Series.

In some ways, Watson and Cingrani could matter as much as Darvish, if they collect critical outs against left-handed sluggers in tight playoff games. Washington’s Bryce Harper is 0 for 6 off Watson and 2 for 9 off Cingrani, and the Chicago Cubs’ Anthony Rizzo is 4 for 20 off Watson and 4 for 19 off Cingrani.

“The top teams in the National League have a lot of elite left-handed hitters,” Zaidi said. “Having guys who match up well in terms of stuff and the various hitters’ strengths and weaknesses, that factored into the equation.”

The other N.L. teams in playoff position also made significant upgrades in July — the Cubs with the left-handers Jose Quintana and Justin Wilson; the Nationals with relievers Ryan Madson, Sean Doolittle and Brandon Kintzler; the Arizona Diamondbacks with outfielder J. D. Martinez; and the Colorado Rockies with catcher Jonathan Lucroy and reliever Pat Neshek.

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The Dodgers could have the best weapon of all in their ace, Clayton Kershaw, who is 15-2 with a 2.04 earned run average. But in order to win in October, they need the best version of Kershaw. He will miss several more weeks with a lower back strain, an injury with symbolism: Every fall, the Dodgers ask Kershaw to carry the team on his back, and the load becomes too much to bear.

Five of Kershaw’s past 11 playoff starts have been on short rest, and he also saved last year’s first-round clincher in Washington with one day of rest. While Kershaw has held postseason opponents to a .229 average, with 106 strikeouts in 89 innings, he is 4-7 with a 4.55 E.R.A. over all.

Darvish pitched poorly in his playoff start last season, and he was blitzed for 10 runs in his last Rangers start. He is 6-9 with a 4.01 E.R.A., but has 148 strikeouts in 137 innings and can slot in with the left-handers Alex Wood (12-1, 2.38) and Rich Hill (8-4, 3.35) behind Kershaw in the rotation.

“The more options you have in terms of starters, the more different ways you can set up your rotation,” Zaidi said. “Even during the course of the season, we’ve had six, or at times, seven starting pitchers we’ve been able to rotate through, and that has helped our guys stay fresh and get the most of their abilities. Going into the playoffs, it’s the same thing — the more you can share the load across the pitching staff, the better chance each guy has of being at his best.”

The Dodgers have not won the World Series since 1988, but the Houston Astros, who had the A.L.’s best record at 68-36 entering Monday, have never won. The Astros were subdued at the deadline, acquiring the left-hander Francisco Liriano from Toronto for outfielders Nori Aoki and Teoscar Hernandez. They also placed the All-Star starter Lance McCullers on the disabled list with back discomfort.

“I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was disappointed in not getting some of the moves done that we were working on,” Astros General Manager Jeff Luhnow told reporters in Houston.

He added later: “But I do believe that this team has what it takes to win in the postseason with the players we have. It doesn’t mean we didn’t try hard to improve those chances, even just a little bit.”

The Dodgers and the Yankees tried hard, too, and now have new players who could make a big difference.

Correction: July 31, 2017

A capsule summary with an earlier version of this article misstated the given name of a pitcher acquired in a trade by the Yankees. He is Sonny Gray, not Sonner Gray.

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MLB-best Dodgers go all-in to add Darvish at trade deadline

LOS ANGELES (AP) Yu Darvish is coming to Dodger Stadium – plus a pair of relief pitchers – in an effort to boost Los Angeles to its first World Series appearance in 29 years.

Darvish was acquired from Texas for three prospects just before Monday’s deadline to make trades without waivers. Los Angeles, a major league-best 74-31, also acquired former All-Star reliever Tony Watson from Pittsburgh for a pair of minor leaguers and left-hander Tony Cingrani from Cincinnati for utilityman Scott Van Slyke and a minor leaguer.

”It’s an honor to be wanted by the team,” Darvish said in Texas through a translator.

Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke weren’t enough to pitch Los Angeles to the World Series for the first time since 1988, when the Dodgers won their sixth title.

Darvish, a 30-year-old right-hander, is in the midst of his worst season in the majors. The four-time All-Star, who returned last year from Tommy John surgery, is 6-9 with a 4.01 ERA in 22 starts. He is coming off his poorest outing since coming to the major leagues in 2012, allowing 10 runs in 3 2/3 innings against Miami last week.

”It was in the last 15 minutes,” Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi said, explaining how the trade got finalized. ”Certainly for a deal of this magnitude, that’s cutting it pretty close.”

Darvish has been better on the road this season, with a 2.49 ERA in 10 starts while receiving the third-fewest run support among AL pitchers. With Kershaw again on the disabled list with a back injury, Los Angeles had been seeking to add an arm.

”One of the things that’s made him so effective is his assortment of pitches,” Zaidi said. ”The fastball, the ability to reach 95, 96, 97 mph, the ability to kind of take something off. He’s got a couple really good off-speed pitches and a couple really good breaking balls.

”Coming to a new league, I think there’s going to be adjustment period on the part of the NL and that will really be an advantage for him,” the GM said.

Darvish should feel at home in Los Angeles. He becomes the seventh Japan-born pitcher for the Dodgers, who already have right-handed starter Kenta Maeda. The best known of the group was Hideo Nomo, who created a sensation known as ”Nomomania” in 1995 when he started for the National League in the All-Star Game and earned NL Rookie of the Year honors.

Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts was born in Japan, too.

”Dodger Nation should be excited!” team co-owner Magic Johnson tweeted.

Darvish, Watson and Cingrani will cost the Dodgers about $12.2 million for the rest of the season: $6.24 million in salary and the rest in luxury tax at a 95 percent rate because Los Angeles already was above the highest threshold.

In exchange for Darvish, the Dodgers sent second baseman Willie Calhoun, right-hander A.J. Alexy and shortstop Brandon Davis to Texas. Calhoun is rated the fourth-best prospect in the Dodgers’ system, while Alexy is 17th and Davis is 27th, according to MLB.com.

The Dodgers open a nine-game trip in Atlanta on Tuesday, when Maeda is set to start. Zaidi said logistics were being worked out on when the players would join the team.

Even before Kershaw went on the disabled list for the second straight year, the Dodgers were in search of a complementary ace and had been in talks with Texas for two weeks.

Rich Hill has been bothered by blisters, Hyun-Jin Ryu is just off the DL after being bothered by a bruised left foot. Brandon McCarthy went on the DL at the same time as Kershaw last week.

”We were trying to balance making the team better without disrupting what we have,” Zaidi said. ”It’ll be an emotional boost for the team.”

Darvish is 52-39 with a 3.42 ERA in 122 starts with the Rangers, who acquired him in January 2012 after he spent seven seasons with the Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan’s Pacific League.

”It’s been great,” he said of his time in Texas. ”My teammates, my fans. I have nothing but appreciation for everyone here.”

Darvish can become a free agent after the World Series. Asked whether he would consider rejoining the Rangers, he responded: ”Just going to have to wait and see until we get to the offseason. Just for example, like Rangers did offer me like very low money, I’m not going to sign. I think I’m going to talk to all the teams available willing to talk to me and see what happens.”

Los Angeles sent 21-year-old right-hander Angel (Hair-mawn) German and 18-year-old infielder Oneil (Own-yell) Cruz to Pittsburgh. The Dodgers traded Van Slyke and minor league catcher Hendrik Clementina to the Reds for Cingrani.

Cingrani has a 5.40 ERA in 23 1/3 innings this season and Watson 5-3 with a 3.66 ERA in 47 games for the Pirates this season. Watson had 10 saves after starting the season as Pittsburgh’s closer blew consecutive chances in June and was replaced as closer by Felipe Rivero.

Watson, an All-Star in 2014, also becomes a free agent at season’s end.

German is 1-0 with a 1.91 ERA and seven saves for Class A Great Lakes this season.

Cruz hit .240 with 36 RBIs and eight home runs in 89 games for Great Lakes.

In order to create room on the 40-man roster, the Dodgers designated outfielder Peter O’Brien and infielder-outfielder Mike Freeman for assignment.

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AP Sports Writer Stephen Hawkins in Arlington, Texas, and AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum in New York contributed to this report.

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More AP Baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball

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