Oakland Athletics: Billy Beane The Mad Scientist Is At It Again
General Manager Billy Beane runs the Oakland Athletics like he was in charge of handling out the sole frugally purchased gift to each of his 25 grandchildren at Christmas time. But every once in a while he splurges on one gift, and he defies everyone to challenge his choice of who is going to receive it. He’s at it again and this time it’s a real whopper.
At the same time that Billy Beane is inviting more non-roster players to Spring Training than he has on his current 25-man roster (more on that later), he’s also the subject of rumors, including one from Jon Heyman, who usually gets things right, that the A’s are in the action to make a run at Edwin Encarnacion .
At one time or another, virtually everything that Billy Beane has done as a General Manager of a small market baseball franchise, has confounded what most would consider good baseball sense. After all, he is the original “Moneyball” man of baseball, a sport that has now grown in popularity to the point where it’s almost become a nuisance that we have to put up with, because just reading a box score isn’t good enough anymore.
But, what could be behind the madness of this baseball savant in pursuing a talent like Edwin Encarnacion , and the $$$ it’s going to take to land him.? Okay, we all get it. His position in the free agent market today is hardly what it a few weeks ago, and that makes him attractive to a host of teams. But if the New York City based Mets can’t find the you know what b____s to be interested, then what is Billy Beane really up to?
Billy Beane: Just Doing His Job
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Well, it could be kind of like this. You know how you might have a neighbor who saw you buy that snow blower back in July, and now it’s almost January and there hasn’t been one snowflake to hit the ground, so he’s still snickering to himself. And then when March rolls around, there’s the snowstorm of the year….and you’re sitting comfortably inside sipping a latte while he’s using a hand shovel and he’s nowhere even started….well maybe that’s the method of Billy Beane’s madness. Because he’s thinking ahead to the July trade deadline when he’s gonna rob somebody blind for the privilege of renting Encarnacion for a couple of months. And if you’re really desperate, he might throw Sonny Gray in there just to watch you bleed.
Billy Beane is also pulling another little stunt by inviting 26 non-roster players to Spring Training. This one is another old carnival trick where you have the choice of three balls for a buck, or ten for three bucks. So you figure, well shoot, I’ve got a better chance of hittin’ that little ole rabbit I’featur I take the ten, don’t I?
Billy Beane is a menace. He’s also rather brilliant. A full list of these invitees is here, and many of the names are familiar. Retreads, they are. But all it takes is just one or two, and you’ve filled two holes on your team. And to boot, you’ve done it at bargain basement prices.
Such Is Life In A Small Baseball Market
Such is life when you are managing a small market baseball franchise. Billy Beane is not trying to win a World Championship for the Oakland A’s. He’s trying to keep them afloat to live for another day, when one of two things will happen. Either the San Francisco Giants will come to their senses realizing that the A’s pose no serious threat to them, and they will drop their “block” on the A’s move to San Jose, or Major League Baseball will finally step in and issue a fiat based on what’s good for baseball, telling the Giants to stop looking over your shoulder and give these guys a break.
Next: Should Chapman have been used less?
Billy Beane, for all of his oddball ways of doing things, is not a Bill Veeck, the former owner of the White Sox who once wrote a book called “Veeck As In Wreck”, and once sent a midget up to bat for the self admitted purpose of “entertaining the fans”. Instead, this is a bona fide major league General Manager charged with a responsibility to do a job that not only is thankless, but one that only very few could handle. So watch out now, Billy Beane is on the loose again.