The Athletics may not have the fat pocket and gratuitous payroll some other lavish A.L. teams have, but they have a talented general manager, who works well with what he’s got. Not convinced? Just watch Moneyball and you’ll see a depiction of what he’s been working with in Oakland since 1994. Although the GM has had some success during his tenure in Oakland, he’s yet to pull a W.S. appearance out of his hat. On top of that, the A’s haven’t seen the playoffs or an over .500 season since 2006.
It seems the diminutive payroll of the A’s has finally caught up with good old Billy over the last 5 years. Guess it goes to show that even baseball GM’s are struggling in this economy. It seems every year is starting to feel like a rebuilding year for A’s fans. They bring in different pieces to try laying a foundation and after they aren’t satisfied with the result, they kick over the structure and start building again.
The A’s have been one of the loudest teams this winter. This year the focus has really shifted to laying a solid foundation of young prospects and re-building the franchise from the ground up. The A’s have been involved in a variety of off-season arrangements, and they are very serious about prospecting, even if it involves giving up team leading players.
Beane must feel that emptying the pen and letting the bulls run free is the key to successful re-building because he’s been ousting pitchers left and right in December. First, he shipped off starter Trevor Cahill and steady bullpen contributor, Craig Breslow, to the D-backs for three young players. Additionally, the team-leading 16 game winner, Gio Gonzalez, will take his talents to Washington, in return for four “promising” prospects. If losing the two starters who marked the most wins last year wasn’t enough to aggravate A’s fans, losing their All-star closer, Andrew “I look good in Red Sox” Bailey, will certainly boil them over.
Had enough yet, A’s fans? It’s not all bad. You just essentially gain 10 prospects in exchange for your entire reliable pitching staff. It may be a rough 1-3 initial years in Oakland, but after that it’s bound to be nothing but easy riding to the A.L. West promise land. And, Hey, we still have Josh Willingham to at least make this season bearable. Oh wait…
No comments:
Post a Comment