Khris Davis Traded to Rangers from A's for Elvis Andrus

The Texas Rangers and Oakland Athletics agreed to an intra-division trade Saturday involving two high-profile position players.

The A's announced that they acquired shortstop Elvis Andrus and catcher Aramis Garcia from the Rangers for outfielder and designated hitter Khris Davis, catcher Jonah Heim and pitcher Dane Acker.

Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram added that the Rangers are also sending $13.5 million to the A's to offset some of Andrus' remaining contract.

Andrus, 32, has spent his entire 12-year MLB career with the Rangers. Meanwhile, the 33-year-old Davis has been with the A's for the past five seasons.

Both Andrus and Davis have been highly productive players during their careers, but they are both coming off tough offensive seasons.

During the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign, Andrus hit just .194 with three home runs, seven RBI, 11 runs scored and three stolen bases in 29 games.

It was a significant drop-off from one of the best offensive seasons of his career in 2019, when he hit .275 with 12 homers, 72 RBI, 81 runs and 31 steals.

For his career, Andrus is a two-time All-Star who owns a batting average of .274 with 76 home runs, 636 RBI, 893 runs scored and 305 stolen bases. He has also been a solid defensive player with a Defensive Runs Saved Above Average of seven for his career, per Baseball Reference.

Davis began his MLB career with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2013 before getting traded to the Athletics ahead of the 2016 season.

After joining the A's, Davis became one of the premier power hitters in baseball and had more than 40 home runs in three straight seasons from 2016 to 2018.

His best season came in 2018 when he clubbed a career-high 48 homers and 123 RBI while remarkably hitting exactly .247 for the fourth straight season.

Davis' production dropped in 2019, however, as he hit just .220 with 23 home runs and 73 RBI. Things got even worse last season as he hit .220 with two homers and 10 RBI in 30 games.

ESPN's Jeff Passan noted that the trade was made for several reasons, including that the Rangers will save money and the Athletics are getting a replacement at shortstop for Marcus Semien, who signed with the Toronto Blue Jays in free agency.

Andrus is under contract through 2022 and owed $28.5 million, while Davis will make $13.75 million in 2021 before hitting free agency.