Texas Rangers: Trading Andrus difficult, but long overdue

It’s always hard to say goodbye to a legend.

Whether you liked what they contributed to their field or not, they will always hold a special place in their line of work.

This is how we’d describe Elvis Andrus‘ tenure with the Texas Rangers.

For all the hypothetical trade proposals we’ve made including him, for all the fans that wished to see his expensive contract shedded, and even perhaps for those that were just plain haters, we never could have brought ourselves to see the day when Elvis Andrus would no longer be wearing a Texas Rangers uniform.

That day is now here.

The Rangers’ active leader in stolen bases was traded to the Oakland A’s on Saturday, along with catcher Aramis Garcia and cash, in exchange for OF/DH Khris Davis, C Jonah Heim and RHP Dane Acker.

The Texas Rangers had to move on from Elvis Andrus.

It’s a bittersweet swap for the Texas Rangers, who get salary relief from Andrus’ onerous $120 million extension that pays him $15 million a year through 2022 plus an option for 2023.

At the same time, a piece of Rangers history was shipped away on Saturday. A key component of the early 2010s AL pennant runs is now looking to win games for his new team.

Most importantly, though, the DFW community loses a man who dedicated much of his time to giving back.

This exchange, while certainly difficult to fathom, was probably long overdue.

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.

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.

Perhaps it was even a bit overdue.