The Kansas City Royals traded veteran outfielder David DeJesus earlier on Wednesday night, and they lost more than a great player from this move.
Dejesus was one of the better outfielders that KC has had in recent years, both on and off the field.
His journey to Kansas City began in 2000, when the club drafted him in the fourth round of the first-year players draft.
DeJesus then rapidly moved his way up to the minors and eventually had his big league debut on Sept. 2, 2003.
His break came the following year when star center-fielder Carlos Beltran was traded to the Houston Astros in a three-way trade, thus leaving the door wide open for DeJesus to take over for the departed Beltran as the everyday starter in center.
DDJ (as many fans called him) would make the most of his time in center, as he ended up making 519 starts there over the next seven seasons.
He finished his eight-year career in Kansas City with 61 homers and drove in 390 runs in 876 games. He also hit an impressive .289 and had a solid OBP of .360 in his time wearing the blue and white.
David was also an accomplished outfielder defensively. He committed only 16 errors in 862 games of outfield duty, and his .992 career fielding percentage ranks among the all-time best for anyone that has donned a Royals uniform.
Arguably the most overlooked part of David DeJesus was the fact that he was an incredible person in the clubhouse.
He always got along with everyone and always had the respect of fellow teammates due to his toughness from hardly missing any games and his upbeat personality. This says a lot about him, as he played for some of the worst teams in Royals, and even MLB history in his time with the franchise.
He wasn’t the strongest, fastest or biggest outfielder in the majors today, but he might be one of the smoothest and most fundamentally sound at his position.
With the Royals looking ahead, DeJesus became expandable as he was obviously not seen as a part of KC’s future.
I hope that the A’s realize what they are getting with a guy like DeJesus, and are able to get the most out of a good player who was simply stuck in a bad situation in his year with the Royals.
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