Oakland A’s: From David DeJesus to Matt Olson

David DeJesus was a bust after being acquired by the Oakland A’s, but his departure made the trade a successful transaction.

In theory, a trade is supposed to help both teams. Often times, that is not the case, with winners and losers becoming evident with the gift of hindsight. Then, there are those trades that seemingly do not work out for either team, such as when the Oakland A’s acquired David DeJesus from the Kansas City Royals for Vin Mazzaro and Justin Marks.

With the Royals being in a perpetual rebuilding mode, the hope was that Mazzaro and Marks would be somewhat useful pieces for the future. Instead, Marks made just one disastrous two inning appearance in Kansas City. Mazzaro had more action, but posted a 6.72 ERA and a 1.770 WHiP in his 72.1 innings. He is most remembered by Royals fans for his implosion on May 16, 2011, when he allowed 14 earned runs in 2.1 innings.

DeJesus was not exactly great for the A’s either. In his one year with the team, he posted a mediocre .240/.323/.376 batting line, hitting ten homers and 20 doubles. After the season, he left Oakland to sign a two year deal worth $10 million with the Cubs.

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And that is where DeJesus paid off. The A’s had offered DeJesus arbitration prior to his signing in Chicago under the old Type A/Type B free agency system. That signing meant that Oakland would receive a compensatory pick after losing his services, which turned out to be the 47th overall pick in the 2012 MLB Draft.

With that selection, the A’s drafted one of the cornerstones of the current roster – Matt Olson. At the time, he had been considered a future middle of the order hitter, a player with projectable power. Olson has certainly become that player, and more, for Oakland.

During his four major league seasons, Olson has blossomed into a fearsome power hitter. He has produced a solid .254/.363/.512 batting line with 89 homers and 62 doubles. Olson has been a stellar defensive player as well, winning consecutive Gold Gloves, saving 19 runs over the past two seasons.

David DeJesus may not have panned out for the Oakland A’s, but the trade was still well worth making. If not for DeJesus, Matt Olson may not have been an A.