A's GM Forst says Davis trade wasn't ‘easy call to make'

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The A's made the difficult decision to trade slugger Khris Davis on Saturday.

“Khris handled it like a pro as you imagined he would,” A’s general manager David Forst said on Saturday.

The trade sent the designated hitter to the Texas Rangers in a five-player deal bringing two-time All-Star shortstop Elvis Andrus to the A’s

Davis, despite his recent dip in numbers, was an imperative piece of the A’s clubhouse and instantly became a fan favorite when he came to Oakland via trade in 2016.

“Let me first say, obviously the big part of this trade was moving Khris, and that was not something we ever expected to do,” Forst said. “I talked to him this morning and told him it wasn’t an easy call to make.” 

Forst did a tremendous job trying to describe what Davis, who hit a league-best 48 home runs in 2018, did for Oakland in the last five seasons. 

“What Khris has brought to the organization and the city really over the last five years is hard to put into words. He got here on a down cycle, he gave us all something to kind of look forward to and aspire to. He kind of was the leader of this group now that has gone to the playoffs three years so that was not an easy thing to do.”

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The A’s made it to the playoffs the last few seasons with Davis in the middle of it all. In 2019, however, he struggled with an oblique injury that was a bigger issue than most might have known.

RELATED: A's new shortstop Andrus not trying to fill Semien's shoes 

“The fact is, yeah Khris got injured during the 2019 season, he’s not going to make any excuses for the last two years so I’m certainly not going to make them for him," Forst said. "And we saw in the playoffs the guy that he’s capable of being -- we wish Khris nothing but the best." 

Forst meant it, and Davis will be missed. 

“You couldn’t have been around Khris as long as we were, not care about him, not root for him, not be appreciative for what he did for everybody here,” Forst said. “I told him this morning, you know, we’re absolutely rooting for him.”

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