Yu Darvish Trade Rumors: Yankees, Dodgers, Astros and Indians Targeting SP

The Texas Rangers are reportedly "confident" they will trade ace Yu Darvish by Monday's 4 p.m. ET non-waiver trade deadline, with four teams in pursuit of the All-Star.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros and Cleveland Indians have been in negotiations with Texas.

However, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports later added it's "increasingly harder to see" Darvish landing in Los Angeles, saying the teams "simply aren't matching up."

Darvish, 30, is 6-9 with a 4.01 ERA and 1.17 WHIP in 2017. The righty has struck out 148 batters in 137 innings and has been unlucky on a Texas team that's struggling to stay above the .500 mark.

While his ERA is disconcerting, Darvish owes a chunk of that to two miserable starts over the last month. He allowed seven runs in 4.1 innings in a July 4 loss to the Boston Red Sox and was nailed for 10 earned in 3.2 innings in a July 26 shellacking by the Miami Marlins. Those two starts have raised Darvish's ERA by nearly a full run over the last month.

Darvish had been struggling with tipping pitches, which made it easier for the Marlins to know when a fastball or breaking ball was coming, according to Passan. Darvish later told reporters that Passan's report helped him make adjustments, though he is yet to start since the Miami debacle.

Wherever he makes his next start, Darvish will be going over the 22-start mark for the first time since the 2013 season. Tommy John surgery and its subsequent recovery cost him all of 2015 and part of 2016, and injuries limited him to 22 starts in 2014.

Darvish will head into unrestricted free agency for the first time this winter, so teams that may acquire him know he could be a rental.

Cleveland and Houston are unlikely to sign him to a long-term contract should the Rangers trade him there. The teams ranked 17th and 18th, respectively, in opening day payroll this season and aren't known to make big free-agent splashes. New York and Los Angeles, meanwhile, have the financial wherewithal and big market that could appeal to Darvish on a new contract.

Either way, he may have pitched his last game as a Ranger.