Khris Davis: A Legitimate Underrated Star

You might hear the name Khris Davis and immediately think of Baltimore Orioles Designated Hitter/First Baseman, Chris Davis. However, there is another slugger out in Oakland that barely gets any respect or attention and continues to rake away every season in Athletics Designated Hitter/Left Fielder, Khris Davis.

Davis has long been one of the games premier left fielders, but ranked 6th among the Top 10 this year according to MLB Network's Top 10 series. Davis wasn't even in the Top 5, yet, during the past two seasons, he has hit 83 home runs, recorded 212 RBI, and recorded a slugging percentage over 500, .524 in 2016 and .528 in 2017, over 1,121 at bats.

Davis, who just turned 30 in December, was originally drafted by the Washington Nationals in the 29th round of the 2006 Amateur Draft out of Deer Valley High School in Glendale, Arizona, but decided to commit to Cal State Fullerton instead. Once 2009 came around, the Milwaukee Brewers took him in the 7th round of the 2009 Amateur Draft and the rest is history. Davis made his official MLB debut for Milwaukee on April 1st, 2013 and spent three seasons with the Brew Crew before getting traded in February 2016 for prospects, Bowdien Derby and Jacob Nottingham.

While Davis doesn't always make the highlight reels as often as other outfielders around the game, that doesn't mean that he can't defend out in left field. Just last season, Davis recorded a .995 Fielding Percentage, which was 2nd best among American League outfielders behind only Brett Gardner of the New York Yankees, and ranked 4th in the American League in terms of Outputs with 212 over the same period of time. Furthermore, Davis had a Range Factor Per 9 Innings rate of 1.94 which was 5th best among American League left fielders and only committed 1 error over the span of 116 games in left field. Yet, Davis ranked last among qualified left fielders with a Defensive Wins Above Replacement rate of -2.6.

Regardless, based on his offensive and defensive statistics alone, Khris Davis continues to be one of the elite stars within the game and is in the midst of his peak right now at 30 years old. As it stands right now, Davis is under control for the next two seasons before becoming a free agent, but that doesn't mean that Oakland couldn't afford to extend him sooner than that. While Oakland has an injection of young outfielders, which ultimately forced Davis to be the team's Designated Hitter last season during 37 games, Oakland has a true star to build their team around moving forward in Davis.

The A's depth chart currently lists Davis as the team's starting Designated Hitter come Opening Day and puts Matt Joyce out in left field, but considering that Oakland has 8 candidates for three outfield spots, that will likely change. For a team that needs offense and players that can get on base, Davis is a necessity and someone that needs to be part of the core this coming season and beyond. After all, last season Oakland ranked 5th in the league in terms of strikeouts with 1,491 over 5,464 at bats and was in the middle of pack when it came to runs scored with 739 over that span. However, the A's did rank 4th in the MLB with 234 home runs and were second with 305 doubles over that same period of time.

As history has shown us, Oakland typically doesn't extend players or stick to a core group of players, but times are changing as last summer, the A's came out and stated that they need to start sticking with a core group and building a brand around their team if they want to continue to stay in Oakland and be successful in the coming years. While it might be difficult to justify an extension for a player, who will be 32 when he hits free agency, it is something that the A's need to do and can do given where their payroll stands. According to Cot's, the A's project to have an Opening Day payroll this season of about $77 million dollars after benefits and the cost of the 40-man roster is taken into consideration. That number drops dramatically come 2019 ($27.3 million) followed by about ($23 million) in 2020 through 2022. Come 2020 when Davis, would hit free agency, the A's only committed contract is Stephen Piscotty, who the team acquired from the St. Louis Cardinals this winter.

With that available cash and the amount of impact that Khris Davis provides, Oakland would be smart to consider locking Davis up sooner than later and appreciating him for what he provides from an offensive and fielding standpoint. While Davis doesn't get any respect for both of those attributes and only ranked 6th among the Top 10 left fielders in the game right now according to MLB Network, he is still a great weapon to have and someone who can help put a team over the top.