OAKLAND – With the middle-infield options replacing recently departed shortstop Marcus Semien who was lean on the free-agents market, the A’s took the trade route and landed a former All-Star in Elvis Andrus after taking a rare five-player intra took out deal with the Rangers on Saturday.
The price to acquire Andrus was apparently high. Slugger Khris Davis is headed to Texas in the deal, as well as catching prospect Jonah Heim and right-handed Dane Acker. The A’s received Minor League catcher Aramis Garcia and money from the Rangers to cover Andrus’s remaining salary for the next three seasons.
Due to a back injury, Andrus was limited to just 29 games and a batting average of .194 last year. But for most of his 12-year career, the 32-year-old shortstop has shown strong endurance, playing at least 145 games in 10 of the 11 seasons of 2009-19. Andrus cut .275 / .313 / .393 with 12 home runs and 72 RBI’s while also hitting 31 bases in ’19.
Andrus is likely to fill the shortstop gap created after Semien signed a one-year contract with the Blue Jays last week. Oakland’s starting second base remains vacant after the departure of Tommy La Stella, although the A’s have reliable internal options for that spot in Chad Pinder, Tony Kemp and Vimael Machín.
The idea of trading Davis would have been laughable a few years ago when he tore through the league as baseball’s most prolific slugger of 2016-18 with 133 home runs over those three years. But after signing a two-year, $ 33.5 million contract extension in a ’19 campaign in which he faced multiple injuries, Davis is struggling to regain his form. Relegated to primarily a bench role last season, Davis hit only two home runs in 30 games.
A move to Texas may be the best opportunity to revive the 33-year-old. Davis traditionally raked in Texas, with his 19 home runs in 36 games at the recently closed Globe Life Park, the second-most by a visiting player in the stadium’s history, just one behind Jason Giambi’s 20. Davis did not homer in four. games at Globe Life Field last season.
Ranked as the A’s No. 9 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, Heim, 25, received high praise during his brief stint in the Major Leagues last year as a rookie for his game-calling behind the plate. Expected to start the 2021 season as Sean Murphy’s backup, Heim could see more playing time in Texas. Austin Allen, who started the ’20 season as Murphy’s backup, will likely reprise that role this season.
Acker will leave the organization before he even has a chance to play a single game in the Minor Leagues. 21-year-old Righty was a fourth round draft pick by the A’s last June.
Garcia, 28, was missing the entire 2020 season after having surgery on the right hip. The backstop, which saw limited big league-action with the Giants in ’18 and ’19, is expected to be ready for the start of Spring Training.