Rumors: Texas Rangers Elvis Andrus on the trading block

Over the weekend there have been several rumors that the Los Angeles Dodgers are working with the Texas Rangers to acquire Elvis Andrus via a trade.

Hot Stove Topic: Carl Crawford. #Rangers reportedly exploring Elvis Andrus for Carl Crawford trade with the Dodgers - http://t.co/HN5mgjE7AT
— B Randon (@onestrikeaway) November 8, 2014

Most of the rumors have died down since Friday night, but it appears that Elvis is currently in California.

Luckily for the most part it seems like Elvis Andrus is just there for vacation and isn’t a target of an active trade between the Dodgers and the Rangers. Which makes sense because it seems doubtful that the Rangers would be able to trade him and get something of value back. Mainly because his defense wasn’t nearly as good as it has been in the past. That’s probably due to Andrus not doing anything to prepare himself for the 2014 season.

Elvis Andrus on arm: "It's definitely not ready, but it's getting there. It will take longer this year," because he did less this offseason
— Evan Grant (@Evan_P_Grant) March 1, 2014

The lack of preparation was evident in his stats this season, because in 2013 he had defensive WAR of 2.0 and a defensive WAR of -0.2 this season. It was easy to see when watching him play his throws were not as crisp and a few times he missed routine plays that in previous years he made look easy.

Since he did have what could be called a horrible defensive year at short stop he drove down his stock value, especially since he’ll be paid about $15 MM each season until 2022 and possibly in 2023 if the Texas Rangers exercise their option.

That means if the Rangers do trade him they’ll not only lose a very good short stop, they’ll likely get little in return and have to play a portion of his salary. It would be a bad trade overall for the Rangers, mainly because it doesn’t seem like Andrus will repeat his struggles next season.