Oakland Athletics: The Top 50 Oakland A’s of All-Time

#44: Mark Ellis

Mark Ellis only has a career batting average of .262, so at first, it seems hard to include him on this list. He was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in 1999, before being traded to the Athletics with Johnny Damon and Cory Lidle in exchange for Ben Grieve, Angel Berroa and A.J. Hinch. Ellis got off to a solid start, posting respectable numbers with the A’s Triple-A team.

He made his major league debut on April 9, 2002, in a game against the Texas Rangers, and played with the Athletics until June of 2011. For a team that frequently trades away even their best players, that’s a very long time. Although he did spend some time on the disabled list, Ellis was incredibly athletic when he was healthy – especially in the field.

In 2006, Ellis managed to maintain a .99685 fielding percentage – nearly perfect – which broke the American League record set by Bret Boone. Even still, Ellis did not win the Gold Glove. His lack of power at the plate often led to him being overlooked, because even though Gold Gloves are supposed to be about defense, they are voted on by managers and coaches rather than statistically chosen, and history has shown that they tend to skew towards better hitters.

In 2011, the A’s dealt Ellis to the Colorado Rockies in exchange for Bruce Billings and Eliezer Mesa. He spent just half a season there before heading to the Dodgers and then the Cardinals. In 2015, he officially retired after a very rough season for St. Louis.

Next: Top 50 Oakland Athletics: #43