Rangers trade Elvis Andrus to Oakland for slugger Khris Davis in 5-player deal

Arlington, Texas — The Texas Rangers today announced a five-player trade with the Oakland Athletics.  The Rangers have acquired outfielder/designated hitter Khris Davis, catcher Jonah Heim, and right-handed pitcher Dane Acker in exchange for shortstop Elvis Andrus, catcher Aramis Garcia, and cash considerations.

Davis, 33, has hit 158 home runs since the start of 2016, the fourth-highest total in MLB in that span to only Nelson Cruz (176), Nolan Arenado (165), and Mike Trout (158).  He produced at least 40 home runs and 100 RBI over three consecutive seasons from 2016-18, just the 22nd player in MLB history to accomplish that feat, including a Major League-high 48 home runs in 2018.  His six career multi-homer games against the Rangers are the most by any opponent in team history, and his 32 overall home runs against Texas are the second-most for any active opposing batter to only Trout (38).

Davis batted .200 with 2 home runs and 10 RBI over 30 games for the A’s in 2020.  He owns a career slash line of .243/.316/.495/.810 over 938 games spanning eight Major League seasons with Milwaukee (2013-15) and Oakland (2016-20).

The 25-year-old Heim made his Major League debut with the A’s in 2020, batting .211 over 13 games.  The 6-foot-4, 220-pound backstop handled 111 errorless chances over 12 starts behind the plate while throwing out one of 3 attempted base stealers.  He was on the club’s postseason roster for both the Wild Card round and Division Series, but did not see any action.  He is currently rated as the ninth-best prospect in the A’s system by MLB.com.

Originally selected by Baltimore in the fourth round of the 2013 June draft, Heim has traded to Tampa Bay in 2016 and then traded to Oakland prior to the 2018 season.  After a promotion to Triple-A Las Vegas in mid-2019, Heim batted .358/.412/.557/.968 over 35 games in the Pacific Coast League to finish the season.

Acker, who will turn 22 on April 1, was Oakland’s fourth round selection in the 2020 June draft out of the University of Oklahoma and took part in the A’s fall instructional league program.  He made just 4 starts in the 2020 season for the Sooners, posting a 3.51 ERA and 0.779 WHIP figure while averaging 9.8 strikeouts per 9 innings and 5.60 strikeouts per walk.  The Brenham, Texas native also pitched at Rice University in his collegiate career and was previously selected by Arizona in the 23rd round of the 2019 June draft out of San Jacinto College.

Andrus has batted .274/.330/.372/.702 over 12 Major League seasons, all as Texas’ starting shortstop spanning 2009-20, and is one of just five players to appear in at least 12 different seasons with the club.  The only MLB player with at least 10 seasons of 145-or-more games since the start of 2009, he is Texas’ all-time leader in stolen bases (305), ranks second in games (1,652), at bats (6,366), and triples (48), and is third in runs (893) and hits (1,743). The two-time A.L. All-Star was the club’s Rookie of the Year in 2009, the Richard Durrett Hardest Working Man in 2016, and the Rangers Player of the Year in 2017.

Andrus started every one of the Rangers’ playoff games from 2010-12 and 2015-16 and is the club’s all-time postseason leader in hits (46), steals (9), games (42), and multi-hit games (14). He has also excelled in his community service off the field and was the recipient of Texas’ 2014 Jim Sundberg Community Achievement Award.

Andrus has been in the Rangers organization since a trade with Atlanta on July 31, 2007.

Garcia was acquired by Texas from San Francisco in a November 25 waiver claim.  He missed the entire 2020 season while recovering from surgery on his right hip labrum.  Garcia owns a career .229 batting average with 6 home runs and 14 RBI in 37 games with the Giants in 2018-19.

Both Davis and Heim go on the Rangers’ Major League roster, which remains at the 40-man limit.