Oakland Athletics: 30 Worst Players in Franchise History

Charles Thomas

Charles Thomas did not have much time to make his mark in the majors. He only spent two seasons in the big leagues, one of them being with the Oakland Athletics. After being picked all the way down in the 19th round of the draft in 2000, Thomas made his debut with the Braves in 2004 and exceeded expectations. He batted close to .300, hit 31 RBIs, and was named to the National League All-Star Team. This outfielder showed a lot of potential offensively and demonstrated outstanding defense during his rookie year.

So, when the Atlanta Braves traded him to the Oakland Athletics in 2005 for Tim Hudson, many were quite excited about this young player joining the Green and Gold. However, he quickly flopped. He started in 20 games that season, but only got five hits. He was demoted to Triple-A after only batting .109 with a .363 OPS in 46 at-bats with the A’s. It seemed as though Thomas had just completely lost his mojo.

Thomas stayed in Triple-A for the rest of the 2005 season and the Oakland Athletics kept him in the Minors until 2007. Since he was not playing well even at a lower level, the Athletics finally traded him to the Milwaukee Brewers for JD Closser on May 4. He finished out the 2007 season in their minor league system, and did not play professional baseball in the United States ever again. When he first came to the A’s, it seemed as though he would have a prosperous career an MLB player. Unfortunately, it did not pan out for Thomas.

Next: The Worst A's Players in History: Jack Cust