Trade Analysis: Rajai Davis for Trystan Magnuson, Danny Farquhar

With the A’s having stolen David DeJesus from Kansas City earlier in the week, they had little room for Rajai Davis in their outfield, so Oakland traded the speedy center fielder to Toronto for right-handed minor league relievers Trystan Magnuson and Danny Farquhar.

Like Kansas City’s return for DeJesus, Oakland’s return for Davis consists of two rather underwhelming pitchers.

Magnuson is the sort of big guy you’d expect a guy named “Trystan Magnuson” to be, and he throws the ball hard and for strikes, but that’s about it. He put together a nice year in Double-A at age 25 last year, but he’ll never strike out enough guys to be an impact reliever.

Farquhar’s more interesting, but that’s less because of any greatness on his part and more because of his unique approach, in which he throws from countless arm angles. Unlike a lot of guys who drop down, Farquhar’s got some heat, but all the slot-shifting means he walks too many to be any sort of shutdown guy.

So what we’re looking at here is a sixth-inning guy and a situational righty for a starting outfielder.

Of course, this deal is of less consequence than the DeJesus deal, though, because none of the players in this trade measure up to the quality of the players there. Whereas the A’s sent two mediocre starting pitchers for a solid starting outfielder there, now they’re receiving two mediocre relief pitchers for a poor starting outfielder here.

And yes, Davis is a poor starting outfielder. He had a great second half of 2009, but he’s really never hit at any other point, and a .320 OBP just doesn’t get it done for someone reliant on speed. 26 walks in 143 games? Awful; absolutely awful for someone who has to get on at a good clip to be effective.

Defensively, too, Davis’ poor reads seem to have caught up to him, as UZR rated him well below average in center field last year. He may actually fit best in left defensively; there’s no doubt he could be a defensive plus there, but there’s absolutely no way his bat can play in left field.

Still, kudos to the Jays for picking up a serviceable player for nobody they’ll miss. And the A’s? I can see the idea—trade Davis now that a) you don’t need him and b) his “starting outfielder” status hasn’t completely evaporated yet, making him a solid trade chip. But a trade chip is only of value if you cash it in for something useful, and I’m not buying these two relievers as “useful.” Not that they’re awful or anything; it’s just that you can get relief help pretty much anywhere, so there’s no reason to go trading starting outfielders for it. Besides, relievers are the last thing Oakland needs right now. I’ll still take the Mazzaro/Marks/Davis for DeJesus/Magnuson/Farquhar combination overall, but Oakland gave back most of their gains in the other deal here.