It’s hard to let a legendary player go, especially for fans and even when its Elvis Andrus. Love him or hate him, he will always have a special place in their line of work. This is the way Elvis Andrus’ time with the Texas Rangers worked out.
While we at TTR considered all the possible trades that could happen with him and even those who just hated him, we never expected to see the day when Elvis Andrus would hang up his Texas Rangers uniform. That day has arrived.
Over the weekend, the Rangers’ leader Elvis Andrus was traded away to Oakland on Saturday, along with catcher Aramis Garcia and some cash. We ended up receiving OF/DH Kris Davis, C Jonah Heim and RHP Dane Acker.
It was time to say goodbye to Elvis Andrus
It’s tough to see him go, but this trade gives Texas some salary relief from Andrus’ massive $120 million extension, which paid him $15 million per year through 2022 with an option for 2023. Rangers fans were forced to say goodbye to a part of Rangers history on Saturday.
He was very instrumental during the 2010 AL pennant races and now will be looking to win games for his new team. The DFW fans lose a man who was very involved in giving back to the community.
Unless he re-locates his stride in Oakland, Andrus has not played up to his contract over the last three years, seeing his OPS drop from the 800s down to .675 in 2018, .707 in 2019, and to just a measly .582 in 2020.
Additionally, his bWAR in 2020 was -0.5, indicating he was a below-average player last season.
It was matter of when not if for Elvis Andrus
Taking the long-term view, trading Andrus serves the Texas Rangers’ future interests, while saving some money in the interim and picking up some decent players as well.
The fact that Jon Daniels and Chris Young got anything of significant value back in a deal involving the 32-year-old should be commended, as Andrus’ trade value has sadly never been lower to this point.
Whether the organization should’ve moved on from their longtime shortstop was not the question.
It was when this would happen.
We’ll miss No. 1 manning the shortstop position in Arlington, but just know that it was in the Texas Rangers’ best interest to make the decision to move on.
