The Texas Rangers have started reaching out to teams potentially interested in acquiring star pitcher Yu Darvish, gathering information on what sort of return they could receive if they decide to trade him before the July 31 deadline, major league sources told Yahoo Sports on Thursday.

In the midst of a wicked slump that dropped them to 45-50 and behind five other teams for the second American League wild card, the Rangers are not committed to dealing Darvish, the 30-year-old right-hander who immediately would become the market’s most coveted asset.

At the same time, rival executives believe the Rangers are nearing the point where their struggles could force them to strongly consider doing so. Even if Darvish’s impending free agency would prevent the Rangers from receiving a blockbuster return, rental players of his ilk carry enormous value, and Texas is taking the proper step gauging just how valuable he is.

View photos In 20 starts this season, Yu Darvish has struck out 131 in 125 1/3 innings and carries an ERA of 3.45. (AP) More

Unlike other rental pitchers available – the best of whom include Lance Lynn, Marco Estrada, Francisco Liriano, Andrew Cashner and Jeremy Hellickson – Darvish’s ability to slot near the top of any rotation makes him desirable to almost every contending team. In 20 starts this season, Darvish has struck out 131 in 125 1/3 innings and carries an ERA of 3.45.

By feeling out Darvish’s market a dozen days before the deadline, Texas gives itself a week or so to climb back into the playoff race while simultaneously allowing for a white flag to be raised without being caught flat-footed.

Narrowing down contenders this early in the process is folly. Though Darvish’s market would overlap with that for Oakland pitcher Sonny Gray, their differing contract situations – Darvish’s expiring in October and Gray with two more years of team control after 2017 – position them differently. Teams committed to winning this year in particular almost all find Darvish the preferable option, according to sources. Among those that have sought starting pitching and have the prospect capital to acquire Darvish: the Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians, Colorado Rockies and Los Angeles Dodgers.

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No, the Astros and A’s never were close to a deal for Gray on Thursday. They are in the same holding pattern they’ve been in for weeks, one motivated even more by the Astros stumbling upon the sort of third starter they’ve sought with Gray.

Brad Peacock is 29 years old. He came to Houston, funny enough, in a deal with Oakland in 2013, and he threw nearly as many innings at Triple-A over those four years as he did in the major leagues. So to see this from him – 71 strikeouts in 52 1/3 innings over 10 starts, with batters slashing .203/.308/.276 – isn’t just the surprise of the year. It is, quite literally, stumbling upon millions of dollars in value.

Because consider this: If the Astros believe Peacock’s slider-fueled breakout is real – he’s throwing the pitch more than 35 percent of the time – the idea of having to give up a Kyle Tucker or Forrest Whitley or Francis Martes to secure Gray isn’t nearly as appealing.

Darvish is a different story – someone whose pedigree and stuff clearly play alongside Dallas Keuchel and Lance McCullers Jr. The other rental pitchers are similar enough to the remainder of the Astros’ starting options – Charlie Morton, Collin McHugh, Mike Fiers and rookies Martes and Joe Musgrove – that their market is almost assuredly Darvish, Gray or bust.

The counterargument to that is simple, and it’s a compelling one: When a team as good as the Astros doesn’t improve itself at the trade deadline, it runs the risk of sending a message to the players in the clubhouse that the front office is not supportive enough of its stellar work on the field. This is not a fair position in which executives find themselves – a team as good as the Astros simply doesn’t need a whole lot of improvement – but it’s reality, as Astros players understand the rarity with which a season like 2017 comes along: In a wide-open league, they are head and shoulders better than everyone else.

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