In a rather stunning swap of veterans, prospects, and cash between divisional rivals, the Rangers are sending long-time shortstop Elvis Andrus, catching prospect Aramis Garcia, and $13.5MM in cash to the Athletics for outfielder/designated hitter Khris Davis, catcher Jonah Heim, and right-handed pitcher Dane Acker. In announcing the deal, the Rangers note that Andrus leaves as one of just five players to spend 12 seasons in Texas.
While the roster implications are significant for both teams, the financial aspect is no less fascinating. Andrus is owed $14MM in each of the 2021 and 2022 seasons. Per the original terms of the deal, Andrus also has a vesting option for $15MM in 2023 that, because of the trade, will now become a player option. Still, to make that player option vest, he’ll still need to either accrue 550 plate appearances in 2022 or 1,100 appearances combined in 2021 and 2022. Previously the plate appearance threshold would have triggered a mutual option instead of a player option.
Andrus has only reached that marker in one of the previous three seasons, so there’s at least a reasonable chance he reaches free agency after the 2022 season. If that proves to be the case, the A’s will have freed themselves from the $16.75MM owed to Davis, while essentially remaining on the hook for about $7.25MM in each of 2021 and 2022. Andrus is also getting an $800K assignment bonus, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter), though it’s unclear which side will be responsible for it.
In terms of the Rangers’ financial motivations, they take on more money up front for later payroll flexibility. Davis will be a free agent after the season, so instead of paying out $14MM in each of the next two seasons, they’ll either pay $30.50MM this season and be totally free the future payroll commitment, or perhaps at least lessen it if the money paid to Oakland is given in installments.
On the field, this ends Andrus’ 12-year run as the Rangers’ starting shortstop. The last remaining connection to their back-to-back pennant-winning teams in 2010 and 2011, the two-time All-Star leaves as the franchise’s all-time leader with 305 stolen bases, second all-time with 1,652 game played, and third all-time in both hits (1,743 hits) and runs (893 runs scored). Though he came to be seen as an albatross contract in recent years, Andrus more than earned his keep over the years, producing $205.8MM worth of value through 28.1 fWAR — a full $100MM over the $105.67MM of actual pay he has thus far banked.
Nevertheless, he was set to lose his starting shortstop job to Isiah Kiner-Falefa this season. Andrus admits to some hard-hardheadedness when it comes to changing his approach at the plate, which may have held him back in recent seasons. He will now have the opportunity to re-boot his career in Marcus Semien’s vacated seat as Oakland’s primary shortstop. Consider the challenge accepted, as Andrus waived the no-trade protection attached to his 10-and-5 status to make the trade happen.
As for the other piece heading to Oakland, Garcia hit .229/.270/.419 over 111 plate appearances with the Giants between 2018 and 2019. The Rangers claimed the former second-round pick off waivers from San Francisco this past November. His inclusion doesn’t likely move the needle much in terms of the overall value of the deal, though he does give the A’s a cheap option to take over as for Heim as Sean Murphy’s backup. Though A’s fans may bristle at seeing Heim included in the deal given his success last season, if the A’s are committed to Murphy as their regular backstop, then including a backup catcher to achieve their goal of moving off the money owed to Davis this season would seem a calculated risk on their part. Notably, the A’s have another fairly well-regarded backstop in Austin Allen who could also step in to back up Murphy.
With Semien and Tommy La Stella already moving on to new teams this season, it’s hard to view the acquisition of Andrus as a significant win for the A’s. Never much of a slugger, Andrus has only twice exceeded 100 wRC+ and hasn’t topped 76 wRC+ since 2017. A three-year slash line of .260/.306/.378 won’t go far in trying to replace Semien, who was, after all, a legitimate MVP candidate as recently as 2019.
Andrus’ glovework should be his selling point, but he’s scored -7 defensive runs saved in 1,521 innings since 2019 and -3 outs above average in 2020. Statcast credits him with 5 outs above average in 2019, however, and a total 0.5 UZR over the past two years suggest Andrus can at least provide average defense for the A’s at short.
The Rangers take on Davis, famed for his preternatural consistency in batting exactly .247 for four season in a row, which he followed up with matching 82 wRC+ seasons in 2019 and 2020. Davis’ power significantly dissipated these past two seasons, as the A’s saw his isolated power drop from .302 ISO in 2018 to .166 ISO and .1229 ISO the past two seasons. Davis hasn’t played much outfield in recent seasons, but the Rangers are fairly set in that regard anyhow with David Dahl and Joey Gallo expected to start regularly in the corners. Davis could steal some at-bats from Willie Calhoun at designated hitter, specifically against southpaws, whom Davis has continued to hit well with 135 wRC+ in 2020 (though his power saw an even more precipitous drop against lefties than righties in 2020).
The Rangers’ long-term value in this deal will come from Heim and Acker. The latter was a fourth round pick in 2020, and because of the pandemic, the 21-year-old has yet to make his professional debut.
Heim, meanwhile, has the potential to develop into a regular catcher for the Rangers. He made just 41 plate appearances last season, but earned rave reviews from the pitching staff for his ability to manage a game, per the Athletic’s Eno Sarris (via Twitter). Heim was the A’s No. 9 ranked prospect per MLB.com in 2020, No. 13 by Fangraphs, and No. 8 by Baseball America. Because of Oakland’s depth, Heim’s addition should mean more to the Rangers than his subtraction will for Oakland.
The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal broke the initial news of the deal, as well as the inclusion of Heim and Acker. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News tweeted news of Garcia’s inclusion in the deal, initially reported to be David Garcia instead of Aramis Garcia. ESPN’s Jeff Passan had the deal expanding beyond the initial framework of Andrus for Davis. Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram added the exact amount of cash heading to Oakland.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Willie Calhoun in shambles
Interesting. A change of scenery might help both players, but especially Khris Davis.
That’s what I thought.
Agreed on the change of scenery. My comment though concerns the valuation of monetizing player values. To me a player like EA does not put fancies in the seats nor sell much in marketing merchandise. Two areas that are not covered in determining a player’s worth. As the team won early in his career, playoff income should add value but overall, he seems the type of player Texas can finish third with or without. Oakland on the other hand sometimes finds team value in that the sum always seem to be worth more than the individual player values. They will miss KD but needed to fill that hole at short.
I’m not sure if Andrus is someone they targeted to fill that hole. I think they just wanted out of the Davis contract so they free up some money to chase the quality players still on the market. I honestly thought they would sign either Brad Miller or Matt Duffy and hope they had a healthy season. Either would have been a roll of the dice but both have shown to have a better bat than Andrus is recent seasons and both would probably agree to be paid in food stamps (which Oakland prefers) for a solid chance to start everyday. Hopefully Beane spends that money on a couple of decent pitchers.
Yeah new home and first bitter friendly ball park for him. Glad for him minus the chase of playoffs are now gone.
I don’t think Globe Life is hitter friendly at all. Unless the roof is open, which it won’t be in the summer
True. According to Baseball Savant, of Khris Davis’s 28 HRs for 2019-2020, he would only have hit 19 in Texas.
Friendly ball park, not quite.
It’s Feb 6th. The chase for the playoffs are gone from nobody. Anything can happen in baseball. That’s why its worth playing.
It’s also the ugliest stadium inside and out I’ve ver seen. Such a shame, Arlington ballpark was an awesome site.
I really hope so, always was a big Davis fan. Seems like a good guy, most of our current players are pretty stoic but they all went nuts every time Davis hit a homerun during that mini-comeback at the end of last year.
I’m also hoping the criticism of Andrus’s defense is just more false worship of unproven data science (lol, WAR). Every time I see him play Oakland his defense looks alright, small sample size but he still looked pretty good. Was always jealous of the Rangers having Andrus during all those god awful years before Semiein improved.
Actually what Kris Dais needs is to be under 30 again.
After 6 consecutive seasons with more HRs than the previous year, he hit 31 yo.
They really do keep screwing Calhoun over
Calhoun had one respectable season, other than that, he’s not good at all
well he’s only has one full(ish) season. so he’s one for one so far in the respectable season category
Mark Teixeira the gift that keeps on giving. Worst trade the Braves probably ever made.
JD Drew for Adam Wainwright was a pretty expensive mistake in terms WAR value by millions. JD Logged an all star season in Atlanta worth about 6-8 WAR, Adam Wainwright has been worth 41 Career WAR. That might be the worst trade in Braves History in terms of WAR value.
WOW
KD gonna mash in Texas
Love this deal for Rangers
Both players have been lousy. Although davis hitting in a better home park helps. Hes sucked since 2019 after getting extension. Just a swap of bad contracts.
Bunch of negative WAR players switched teams.
Rangers 2020 World Series favorites! Don’t mind preller it’s all about jd making moves
I think the Dodgers may try to shed Prices’ contract. next Rangers deal will be.
David Price Dustin May and another prospect (Robinson Ortiz)
for
Odor Allard and 15.33 mil.
that pays one year of Odor and his option.
Elvis left the Texas building…
Haha
He’ll always be my favorite Ranger. As a Blue Jays fan.
This is amazing
My favorite Ranger is Roughned Odor as a fan of players who punch JoeyBats.
No love for Odor, @smuzqwpdmx?
As a Blue Jay’s fan?
For sure @DuckyBuckinFent, his terrible throw to first in game 3 of the ALDS was greatly appreciated.
Don’t forget his stumbling backward to miss a little pop up the at bat before Bautista’s bomb. Odor dislikes pressure.
Throws a nice hook, though.
Odor is stinky
Or Beltre, a guy that’s supposed to be a Gold Glove fielder but also committed an error in that inning?
I enjoyed Stinky too, despite his punchy antics. He played with passion and the losing hurt him hard, especially because he knew his botched play contributed (though nowhere near as much as Elvis’ three consecutive botched plays [I know Moreland and Beltre got errors but Andrus contributed to them]).
I hope Odor’s career has a second act.
Wow, I thought Elvis Andrus was going to be one of those guys who spent his entire career with one team.
IK!
I think I like the deal though… Davis crushes the Rangers, so we just won like 6 more games against the A’s this season.
You think the Rangers are gonna beat the As 6 times
I swear every game we lose against the A’s is because of one KD homer. If you can’t beat em’ join em’.
The reason why those games were so close were usually because of Andrus so…
Hate to break it to you, but someone else other than Davis will just mash bombs off the Rangers shoddy pitching now.
Your offense can’t sniff the A’s rotation (other than Fiers, oof).
A’s will own the rangers next year like they do every year. They’re just a much better team, constructed better pitching and hitting.
Davis is done. This was a salary dump, plain and simple.
A pretty sad way to see Elvis’ tenure in Texas end honestly. Bench him to avoid his option from vesting and then trade him for garbage just to get him off the roster. All to save ownership a little money they likely won’t put back into the team.
Was signed by Braves and with them 3 minor league seasons.
Spend his entire major league career with them I should say.
mlb1225, I can see that thought, but it was probably unlikely as if he wasn’t traded his days in Texas would have ended with his contract after 2022. I could see him bouncing around after that.
I didn’t care for Davis after extension but you dont pay semien for 1 YEAR but take on 2 expensive years of andrus
It’s pretty much cash neutral for the A’s because they unload Davis’s deal.
Elvis is guaranteed 28.5 mil (with a possible option vesting that will add 13.5 of if he gets enough PAs) and khris is due 17 for this year. Hardly cash neutral and I’d hate this deal if I were an As fan
Rangers are sending 12 mil though so it does even out.
If you actually read the story you would know that Texas is including 13.5M along with Elvis Andrus and catcher Aramis Garcia. Just read the story man, it is not long and it is in English!!!
That’s really not necessary. Try three less cups of coffee and just move on when you spot a mistake.
Do you just troll these articles trying (ineffectively) to police others’ comments? You are “really not necessary,” MoRivera. Take your own advice and “just move on.” You are quite the hypocrite.
@Chief I do find his comment patterns really weird.
Keep telling yourself that.
Or just delete your own comment, MoRivera. That works, too.
For the record, my “Keep telling yourself that” comment was a response to one of MoRivera’s comments that conveniently disappeared.
*fewer
🙂
It’s a shame you don’t play yourself as u would easily win the triple clown
Lmao the money aspect was not reported at the time of my comment but do go off
With a prospect said to be going back to the Rangers I’d imagine they’ll be paying down Andrus contract some.
Stupid trade.. another high K DH only ..
Exactly. These guys are a dime a dozen. Most teams have a guy hitting bombs in AAA that if they promoted them to MLB the average goes down to a shade above .200 and the K’s sky rocket. Pretty much the player Khris Davis has been for 2 seasons in a row.
So um… Does Texas want to have fans left? I know Elvis has underperformed lately but at this point what is the point of paying for a package to watch the team
Lynn gone
Elvis gone
Passed up on chances for low risk high reward contract offers for Chris archer and king felix
Got rid of jd which is good, but now this
So we free up all this money with Choo gone and Lynn gone and now we are just sitting looking at the pile of cash?
Count me out. Not paying for a service to watch them from here in Cleveland. I thought the tribe was cheap with the lindor trade. All I can say is wow
We watched the Red Sox trade Betts, the Indians trade Lindor, and the Rockies trade Arenado. I get that you don’t want to pay to watch a rebuild, I really do. Don’t act like this is the same as that though lol. They are retooling and moving money around. Davis’ salary is higher than Andrés this year so cheap might not actually be the right word at all.
Hate to break it to you, but we still have JD. He just got promoted
Yeah they didn’t get Archer or Felix, but they signed Kohei Arihara and Folty instead. I feel like both of those guys would provide a much higher reward than Felix, and the cost isn’t that far off either. Not to mention they got Dane Dunning back in exchange for Lynn. And JD is still there
Fair enough, but from what I’ve read the guy from Japan is an unknown at best, amd somewhere I read his strikeout rate wasn’t that good over there. I’ll admit if I’m wrong and the dude becomes yu darvish, but idk id personally go with archer coming off injury or not.
Can he please be better than Darvish. He is awful.
Nah bro, try my team. The Orioles lol. Traded Alex Cobb for no reason, could’ve done it later but whatever. HOPEFULLY Hernandez has little left, doubt it tho. He stinks lol. Better off letting young prospects pitch.
Yea I do feel bad for orioles fans. The infuriating part of Cleveland though is they are close and always in the hunt but as soon as players get good, they have to go. And cleveland didn’t even get outfield help in that deal if I remember correctly. The one glaring issue they have.
At least Texas sucks so bad they don’t even try to get good players or when they think they made a competitive offer they aren’t even close (Rendon)
It’s not like they employ….. Al Avila……
We have a crop of young guys coming up through the system. I’m a fan of Elvis and an owner of his jersey, but I like this trade. It shows our front office is making smart moves for the instant and distant future.
What specifically do you like about this trade?
The return? The centerpiece was a Jeff Mathis clone.
The money? They’re taking on negative war player in Khris Davis at $16.75 million and throwing in $13.5 million to offset Andrus’ contract.
The roster implications? This doesn’t clear up a 40 man spot, adds yet another obstacle to Willie Calhoun’s path to regular at-bats and opens time for middling infield prospects at best.
I just don’t see much to like about this trade as a Rangers fan. You’ve salary dumped a franchise cornerstone (without actually saving much money) for no other reason than to get him off the roster. And it provides no tangible benefit to the team in the short or long run. This wasn’t about putting the team in a better position to compete sooner. It was the type of money move we have come to expect and can expect in the future from one of the game’s worst ownership groups.
Being a Rangers fan is depressing.
So it goes from Andrus having the inside track for 3rd base, to he’s getting traded. Very interesting.
Hm, curious trade for the Rangers. For what benefit, I contemplate? I can’t seem to see how this helps the Rangers, unless I’m missing something.
My only request is they consider Gallo to NY for some good prospects. Helps us free up an OFer for trade bait for something… GG last year, crush homers, yeah, I like me some JG.
Gets the money off the books a year early. And just in time for the massive SS crop on next years free agent class.
Do you really expect them to spend the money though? Last year jd said he made a “competitive” offer for Rendon… Amd was outbid by 100mil. Not saying that Rendon would be worth it to outbid LA, but my point is they’ve been saying they were saving money for years and years. I’ll see it when I belive it.
I would have loved to see what Happend if Cuban bought the team all those years ago.
Rangers would continue to suck just like the Mavs…
Doesn’t NBA have a salary cap? I honestly don’t follow basketball
Not sure how massive it will be. I expect correa and lindor to resign with their teams respectively. The dodgers have a tough decision with Seager. Hes terrific but they have bellinger kershaw buehler etc to think about. It could literally be only story on the open market
Clipper, when I first read your post, I saw OFER and “0 for at bats” came to my feeble mind. Mind slowing down in my old age.
BYW , a change of scenery for Gallo might just be the ticket for him….short RF porch. Do the Yankees need a second baseman? Odor is ripe for the taking.
No, they brought back LeMahieu, but he can also play the corners if need be.
Guess they gonna blow load at Trevor Story in free agency next yr
Word on the street is that they are going to go all in on bringing Trevor Story to the Rangers to play for his hometown team.
I’ll belive it when I see it lol
It’s just a Story
I believe this, Story has everything the Rangers need long term and gives them something to build around, and their owner isn’t a cheapskate like John Fisher of the A’s is.
Have you seen the ranger? We are right there with the cheapest teams
Love this deal for Reds … didn’t want Elvis
LOOK AT THIS SH*T!!!: https://www.lonestarball.com/2021/2/6/22269679/texas-rangers-news-rumors-links-mike-foltynewicz#comments
CHEV PREDICTED THIS TRADE 3 HOURS AGO!!!! HOLY CRAP!!!
It’s not like these trades arent in the works usually for days.
no one cares, you shouldnt either
Too bad TEX moved out of Globe Life – KD crushed there. Wish the best for him – he really hasn’t looked right the last 2 seasons. Seems to have some form of the yips ala Profar
Whaaaaaa
It could’ve been worse news… Rangers might have traded for Chris Davis!
Hahahahahaha
Nah, Davis (Chris) is going to the Rockies for Marquez……Jeff Bidich knows what he’s doing….
(it’s called sarcasm, BTW)…
Bet Khris will hit .247
Called this one! Asked this on the chat sessions many times from Mark P. and gang. Makes sense on so many levels for each team.
I don’t understand this deal at all from the A’s side. Unless Andrus is being flipped on a few days somewhere else.
A’s needed a SS and are getting $13.5 along with andrus so it makes sense
They didn’t need a SS they already have Nick Allen.
Nick Allen hasn’t played about single A. He’ll be there at the end of the year MAYBE, and Andrus can move to second then. Or Allen won’t be ready, and we have Andrus for 2 more seasons anyways.
It is how it always is with the A’s. All about not spending the money. Especially this year. They get a SS for free in 2021, and then …idk …trade him in 2022 or hope for an injury that will make the player option not vest?
That would be the plan. Small market blues
I actually like this for the rangers. I think Davis could get back to that 2018 form out in Arlington. Not gonna miss Elvis much either.
If Davis wasn’t smoke nor mirrors then Oakland will just keep winning.
How is Davis smoke or mirrors? He’s about as consistent as players get.
That 13.5 million is nice though. That will give them buying power now!
Tigers better grab Jake Lamb before A’s resign him.
After signing Schoop, I think the Tigers are done.
Why did Oakland dump Davis? For Elvis?
Cash neutral way to plug their SS hole looks to be the best theory.
Because they wanted to be able to say “Elvis is in the building!”
Andrus is also an extremely positive clubhouse guy and the A’s are always trying to avoid Lawrie/Butler types. He’s not going to hit at all in Oakland though, he has a career .554 OPS in 426 PA at Oakland. Pure defense and I’m sure they will sub in Pinder at SS if Andrus’s bat flatlines entirely. He might end up a late inning defense replacement.
Tigers were done 11/01/2016
hated it when they said David Garcia was involved. but now I like it a lot. Rangers clear up some money. hopefully they Rangers are paying all 13.5 this season for elvis.
Texas is highly unlikely to keep Davis. They most likely will immediately designate him for assignment, as they have no reason to keep him to soak up at bats on a non-contending team and also they need the 40 man roster spot to add Mike Folty…
both of the players traded were on the 40 man means the Rangers will only DFA one player… probably a reliever
As are just giving up
How? This frees up money to sign pitching. That’s literally the point is to free up money for this season, while taking on Andrus contract in the seasons that will have fans back in the parks again.
LOL @ freeing up money to then invest on the field. This is about freeing up money for owner’s wallet. With all my heart I’d love to be proven wrong here.
Well I dunno what to tell ya, but they signed Fiers like immediately after so I’m guessing that’s the sign of more to come. You’re free to ignore that stuff if you want tho
I’m not ignoring it. Let me know when they spend all that savings on the field. I’m counting 3.5 million so far.
A’s could have gotten Trevor Story and Kolten Wong, resigned Hendriks and gotten a bunch of good RPs and taken the AL with ease.
Instead John Fisher hates baseball and refuses to spend money on the team, because he is waiting to break ground on a new stadium so he can sell the team at “new stadium” prices. Infuriating situation, all A’s fans should be egging Fishers mansion or open handed slapping him in public if they see him. Earthquakes fans too. Just a rotten sports team owner, one of the worst in America. Get him out!!!
Enrico Pallazzo20 hours ago
As are just giving up
========================================
You guessed it Sherlock. They had the 2nd best record in the AL and the 4th best in baseball.
Then they replaced Semien with Andrus.
They’ll be lucky to play .400 this year. Semien is at least a 20-30 WAR player.
Ok, this is funny.
But still, the A’s are not making the World Series with this team no matter what happens. They might even win 100 games and make the playoffs, but then, like all fake-good teams who benefit from playing too many tanking teams in their own div, they will get exposed when playing an actual-good team like they always do. They will never beat the Rays, Yankees or Red Sox in the playoffs unless they spend, and they never spend.
I believe this increases the chances too that Sam Huff breaks camp as the Rangers starting catcher with Jose Trevino backing up and Heim in AAA. Other option is Drew Butera wins backup job as an NRI if his contract is purchased.
Now Texas needs to work on a Odor for Ian Desmond trade.
“Now Texas needs to work on a Odor for Ian Desmond trade.”
Outstanding statement! Keep swapping bad contracts.
Low impact trade. Neither one is very good. Andrus hasn’t hit well since 2017, and has had only two above average seasons with the bat. I would like this trade more for the Rangers, if their new stadium wasn’t playing as pitcher-friendly as it appears it is. the jury is still out on that. But if I had to favor one side, I’d take the A’s since they get someone that can play SS. But then again the advanced metrics haven’t liked the glove for the past two seasons.
They are supposed to bring in the fences to the same zip code for this season so there should be more upside for Crush in Texas
Tsizzle27:
Thanks, I didn’t realize they were planning to do that. It’s a little surprising since it takes about two full seasons to truly gauge a park’s effects.
But I still think it’s a trade that’s not going to be much of a difference maker.
Elvis had a .926 OPS when he broke his arm in 2018 and was slashing .303/.339/.453 at the 2019 all star break. His last three seasons were all derailed by injury. If he can get and stay healthy, he’ll be a productive player for the A’s.
Such an Oakland move if I ever saw one. Ultimately I can’t completely wrap my head around this for the rangers. I totally understand wanting to get rid of a costly aging SS that very well could be sitting the bench. And Davis is ok, ive always felt he was overrated. But sending that much cash and a solid prospect (I assume it’s David Garcia, not the name listed in this article). And getting just meh prospects in return. Idk. Interesting, very odd… for the rangers. Oakland, it make sense knowing this is how Oakland operates
Appears the Garcia they traded was no David Garcia. Weird move yo
huh what
Wow. Davis may have struggled recently, but dude can hit. Don’t know how much more Elvis has in the tank. How do the A’s make up for his production?
Just, wow.
Recently? Hes struggled for 2 straight seasons and the guy could only muster a .247 batting avg with his usual 40 hrs. Now without the hrs Hes replacement level. This is a typical swap of bad contracts/players that fit you better
Rangers go for offense but not pitching again. Will they ever learn?
I LOVE LOVE LOVE the problems we have right now… Too many 1B, too many catchers, too many SP, too many BP arms… This is great. We have options now. Still not a good team, but we have options galore.
Bad options.
Other than 4 of the current starters, the entire team is DH-only types. No idea how this is good.
Too much strength up the middle (C, SS, CF) is a good problem. Too many 1B and corner OF is not a good problem.
Terrific move for Rangers. If Davis bounces back and most likely in that ballpark. Your getting a 40 hr guy.
I’m not sure where this will end up for either team
The last we saw of Elvis he was:
– SO hurt he couldn’t play
– So slowed by injuries he was a defensive liability
– STILL and always an offensive liability (lifetime OPS+ of 86!)
This is what we call a terrible deal.
Oakland owes now $43M on the contract. Offset by 17M for Krush and 14M – so 12M pick-up for the A’s.
A’s are paying 12M for a player whose injury history and recent play says HE’S DONE!
Mistake?
Seems like a terrible deal for the A’s – I think we’ll regret this mightily – I don’t expect Andrus will play 80 games for the A’s over the next 3 year. Krush looked like his old self in the play-offs.
Here is to hoping the past doesn’t predict the future!
Isn’t the $43M including the vesting option? That’s why I like this for the As. If Elvis vests, it is likely because he’s done fairly well. If he doesn’t vest, then it is $28.5M for Elvis, less $16.75 for Davis, less $13.5 in cash.
So they get two years of Elivs, for the same cost as one year of Davis, plus another $1-2M in their pockets.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Okay, that’s what I started with. But after looking at it for a couple of minutes, I think is a really good trade for both sides. Assuming Falafel is moving to SS, the Rangers had dead weight at SS. This is trading dead weight at SS for someone that still has enough potential to become an asset at the trade deadline.
And the As are basically doing the same thing. They had a hole at SS, and Elvis fits in fairly well for two years, at a very affordable price, while moving someone they didn’t need.
Nicely done on both sides.
Andrus has played 145-160 games in 10 out of his 12 seasons. Last season was a fake short season that doesn’t really matter. Why do I keep reading how “injured” Andrus is based off what happened in the short season? He literally is one of the most durable players in MLB.
The word “chronically injured” literally does not apply to Andrus under ANY circumstance. Intelligence levels around here sink by the day…
Actually, the Rangers paid Oakland 1.5 Million to do the trade. as long as Andrus’s option is not invoked – which is doubtful unless Oakland wants him to stay.
His option is PA-related right? They could bench him if he doesn’t hit, and if he does then he becomes a trade piece when Allen is ready to take over SS.
This one hurts so bad. I love you always Elvis.
Not to worry. He’s alive and well, living at Mara Lago.
Good trade for Oakland. They needed a SS and they got it. While also getting rid of dead weight in Davis.
Exactly, rangers are so stupid!
Trade with oakland at your own risk. Rangers are such SUCKERS in this deal. Khris Davis was a negative war player for ALL of 2019 and 2020! Andrus was +2.0 war player in 2019 and about that his whole career. Couple that with the value of his position and his steal ability and this one’s not even close! A’s win this BY A MILE! Rangers actually gave them money to get this done. LOL! WOW. This is why the rangers are one of the worst organizations in all of baseball. Watch gallo and davis combine for 350-400 strikeouts hitting around .200 each next year! PALM TO FOREHEAD!
Imagine thinking batting average matters in 2021?
“I didn’t ask who gave the order, because it had noting to do with business!”
Change of scenery trade?
Now trade Odor for anything
Interesting trade, and within the same division. A swap of tough contracts to meet some needs for both teams. Oakland needed someone at SS for now. Better a veteran than depending on an unproven rookie. KD will whiff a lot and also knock a few out, and he’s gone after this year. If he has a hot start, maybe he is a mid-season trade chip. No harm in that. And now Kiner-Falefa is set to take over full time at SS without drama within the clubhouse. Admittedly I don’t know much about the prospects involved, but I don’t see much for either side to complain about here.
Neither side can complain due to the fact that the Astros will still win the division long after these contracts expire.
The trashstros aren’t touching the A’s this season. Even with Oakland skipping the FA market entirely. Houston still has no CF and their catchers are all old, not to mention no Verlander.
A’s may now go after Mazaro or Lamb as a LH hitting DH
I like seeing trades like this. Never saw this coming.
I’m with you Marlins, makes things interesting & shakes things up. Someone could end up looking like a genius (or a doofus)
Its tough being a fan of the A’s Davis was my favorite player outside if SM! Well that catcher will probably turn into a stud and be traded 6 years from now.
Obviously A’s cutting payroll with their best consistent .247 hitter. They wouldn’t resign him anyway…at least they are getting something out of the deal.
A’s needed a SS badly so this could be a good move if Andrus is healthy. They could let Canha DH and sign an Outfielder or they can probably get Edwin Encarnacion on the cheap which seems like a very Oakland move to make.
Rangers were moving IKF to SS and its doubtful Andrus would have taken to a utility role. They got a RH power bat in Davis to go with Gallo, which they needed. Lots of strikeouts but lots of power between the two
Choo or Encarnacion makes Oakland very tough, great call!
Gallo has lots of power with high strikeouts. Now they have a righty to balance out the K’s
As a very recently former Rockies fan all I see is Texas making room to see how much Colorado will pay them to take Trever Story
Not likely. They want to move IKF to SS and probably sign a stop-gap at 3B til one of Apostle or Jung is ready.
Just wait till next off-season. Next off-season we will strike.
No, there’ll be tons on strike(outs) this season. No need to wait that long.
You’re really convinced? This is te Rangers way they keep saying next offeaason year after year and then get outbid by so much they aren’t even in the same state let alone the Same ballpark when it comes to money
As a very recently former Rockies fan all I see is Texas making room to see how much Colorado will pay them to take Trever Story….
Saying it twice doesn’t make it funny
Hello TC,
Can you please fix the sentence/grammer between ‘vesting option’ & ‘becomes a player option’?
“Per the original terms of the deal, that option is technically a vesting option ‘the’ becomes a player option with either 550 plate appearances in 2022 or 1,100 appearances in 2021 and 2022”.
I think this is a VERY interesting trade between division rivals, and if i got the details correct, then the A’s may have swindled the Rangers! They give up just ONE year of KD, plus a “low-energy” prospect Catcher and 4th-round flier Arm, for TWO years of Elvis(at a position of need after departure of Semien) and ML-ready former 2nd-round Catcher, Plus SAVE 2.25-mil overall….as long as Elvis doesn’t reach 550/1100 PA’s and accept the 3rd-year option, which why the hell would the A’s let him get to that mark, 2-year stop gap of an average defender at SS, won’t replace Semien offensively of course, but actually GETTING PAID from a DIVISION RIVAL to fill a position of great need with a seasoned vet is pretty smart biz imo!
Nice try to spin it for A’s. Enjoy the Andrus rollercoaster ride: when he hits, he hits big, hit more often than not, he plays lazy, makes big errors and will whiff at the plate. The biggest win for the Rangers is having extra payroll flexibility.
Enjoy khris davis and his 175k’s batting .200 he is so washed up it’s not even funny!
You speak as if Oakland hasn’t had “rollercoaster ride” type of players before.
Andrus is playing next to Chapman, who is better than Beltre, he won’t have much to do other than focus on revamping his approach at the plate.
The Rangers have almost an entire team of DH’s, they have not won anything in this trade.
why do I keep seeing people saying this? The Rangers have multiple goldglovers currently, and one of the best young defensive CF in the league right now. KD is only going to steal atbats from Calhoun against tough lefties, nobody actually cares how well he plays.
Elvis Andrus is not good. Texas took on a little money and cleared a bad contract at least one year early. It makes sense for both teams.
do those games played clauses automatically adjust if they don’t pay 162 like last season?
Davis was a great A in more ways than one — a bit bummed it ended how it did. But for a team like Oakland, his lack of flexibility was frustrating.
I think it’s a plus now that Melvin can utilize the DH more as a spot to rotate guys in and out of.
Hard to say what Andrus has left in the tank — same for KD — but hopefully they can both prosper in their new digs.
I think Heim may develop into a solid catcher. Some of the A’s minor league instructors thought more of his abilities than Murphy. Nice pick up.
Unless his bat takes off at age 25 (highly unlikely), Heim looks like a Jeff Mathis starter kit to me. There’s value in that, but it’s as a backup catcher.
Would the rangers trade gallo for andrew knizer, tyler oneill, edmundo sosa and jake wofford? Or swap wofford with rondon or oviedo? Or knizer, torres and oviedo?
Odor is stinky
Ok, who are the other 4 Rangers who spent 12 seasons with the club? I hate when people do that and not give the complete list. Ugh!
Lol I could be wrong, but — Pudge, Juan Gonzalez, Michael Young, and Jim Sundberg
Thanks! I put that question straight up to Google and all I got was googledigook…..
Wonder if Choo to Oakland to DH full time is a fit now?
Encarnacion, Cespedes and Braun might be on the A’s radar if they’re willing to take like a $2M deal.
Oh! I like the Choo fit — could use another left-handed bat. Although, if he’s relegated to full-time DH duties, that’s definitely a con.
If the A’s go full time DH they are more likely to go with a RH hitter. RH pull hitters do well at the Coliseum, historically. Frank Thomas, Khris Davis, Olmeado Saenz, John Jaha, Jose Canseco, Dave Kingman.
One of Beane’s dumbest moves was getting Encarnacion for nothing for like a week and then giving him right back to the Jays, where he proceeded to immediately turn into an elite masher. If your premise holds, I can see that happening for sure just because you know Beane’s ego can’t let his fails go. It’s why they got a completely washed up Kendrys Morales when they had Canha to play 1B when Olson got hurt, because Beane always wanted him when he was on the Angels.
This deal: Moving deck chairs around on the Titanic.
Except the A’s get $13.5 Million in cash.
Rangers considering putting Lowe at 3B possibly?
C Trevino
1B Guzman
2B Solak
SS IKF
3B Lowe
LF Dahl
CF Tavaras
RF Gallo
DH Davis/Calhoun
I guess maybe Solak at 3rd and put Odor at 2nd
Davis at DH could put Calhoun in LF, Dahl in CF, and Taveras spending time in AAA
Other than IKF, Dahl, Gallo and Taveras, the Rangers are a team made up entirely of DH’s.
Have fun with that.
Trevino has always gotten high marks for his defense. He should be included on the non-DH list as well.
Guzman and Odor!!??
They gotta go!
Odor is has no trade value. Over priced and hasn’t hit for a couple of years. Guzman has just never hit at the ML level. The Rangers would probably have to attach a frontline prospect or pay down a significant sum of Odor’s contract to move him
No guys, Josh Jung will get his shot at 3B sometime during the year.
I like the trade for Texas. Why? They get money off the books so maybe they can get a Story to build their team around
Do baseball fans realize the Rangers have a new ballpark? It’s not nearly as “hitter friendly” as the Globe Life Park.
Judging by the comments here. No, they do not. The World Series is a good watch guys even if your team isn’t in it. This year they played games in Texas for the World Series. They talked a lot about how the field was huge and a pitchers park.
I don’t see Davis doing much at the new ballpark, but stranger things have happened. Elvis obviously wanted out after losing the starting job, and the Rangers did the best they could. Heim might eventually become a sort of okay defensive catcher. Otherwise, it’s a pretty meh deal of guys who once were names.
This is a rather bizarre trade from the Oakland perspective. They saw plenty of Andrus over the last decade or so, they must know what they’re doing. Solid baseball organization
Look for Andrus’ defense to improve based on Matt Olson being at 1B and Matt Chapman at 3B.
I didn’t realize what a poor hitter Andrus was until I looked up his career stats. Every time I watched the Rangers on TV the homer announcers made such a fuss over him I thought he was HOF bound. My bad!
He was decent in 2016 and 2017 but you’re right, he’s been mostly mediocre.
Strange that Garcia is referred to as a catching prospect. He is 28, two years older than Heim.
I laugh when writers and posters talk about 2020 stats, especially splits considering the sample sizes. For most of the players 2020 will not lead to fair projections for 21. For every argument, there’s a counter argument because so few games were played. For 21, teams will have just as much success or failure by going with instinct and perhaps combining 2019 and 2020 stats. Even then, last year was so weird beyond just the number of games played.
Rangers farm is stronger then it gets credit for… MLB had Heim as the A’s 9th best prospect. he is the Rangers 26th.
good trade for both sides. Oakland gets a greater need and Texas gets a more tradeable player. also like the catching prospects in this deal.
Forst says the A’s now have money to dip into the RP market. If they get as many as they can of Tony Watson, Shane Greene, Mark Melancon, Yusmeiro Petit or Trevor Rosenthal they will run away with the West.
But seriously, if they get two of them, A’s will still have the best 25 man in the West. Astros still all-talk, no CF and no Verlander = not scary.
Marty,We really don’t know much about hip procedures.I bleed Cal State Fullerton and I will if capable,always pay it forward.Chapman is special,he has everything you need to be great.Plus he’ll do anything to win!Big man fields 3b like Ozzie Smith with muscles.Dude murders the ball and doesn’t ever looks unbalanced
But hips scare me more then any other body part for athletes.So for sure the A’s don’t have the division like you think brother.I’m hoping halos band of #4&5 type starting pitching can get in!Astros r DOA,Texas is DOA
Oakland fleeced Texas.Elvis for free & you know they will dump him at the deadline.AE is a winner,dude has heart,& everything I’ve read about his suggests he’s a great teammate.Playoff bound teams are always looking for playoff exp that are great clubhouse guys.Add but no disruption on your vision for improving on the quest for the ring.No cost w/possible futures coming back.Brilliant move if it works out.
Davis is done,he guesses on pitches to begin with.Plus his hands are slow.On tv he looks rt eye dominate the way he dips his head down.Last 2 yrs Davis East and West,both swings getting paid large.So when you say at home that you can do his job or that job.Know that you can!Call it the Davis Exemption for cap purposes,and believe that answer is,yes!
I love that there are still “rave reviews” nuggets about catchers even after a couple years