Has Billy Beane lost his touch?

[Lex Luthor]

One year ago the Oakland A's had the best record in baseball at 59-36. Then on July 31st the A's traded Yoenis Cespedes for John Lester. The A's record before the trade 66-41. The A's record after the trade was 22-33.

In the offseason Billy Beane traded Josh Donaldson to the Toronto Blue Jays for third baseman Brett Lawrie, right-hander Kendall Graveman, left-hander Sean Nolin and minor league shortstop Franklin Barreto. Donaldson and Cespedes were the two best players on the A's roster. Now they're both gone and the team went from first to worst. Josh Donaldson is having an MVP season. Cespedes barely missed making the All Star team and is having a solid season. The A's have the worst record in the American League at 41-50.

It looks to me like Billy Beane has destroyed this team. Has Billy Beane totally ****ed up, or do Lawrie, Graveman, Nolin and Barreto have so much potential that the Donaldson trade could eventually work out in favor of the A's?

[Snapplez]

He had a movie made about him so obviously he da bestest

[Prison Bitch]

7-22 in one run games. /end thread

[Lex Luthor]

Originally Posted by Snapplez

He had a movie made about him so obviously he da bestest

Yeah, that was the movie that went on and on about on-base percentage and the genius of Billy Beane, and completely ignored the fact Mark Mulder, Tim Hudson and Barry Zito had a little bit to do with the success of those A's teams.

After the A's lost Mulder, Hudson and Zito, the genius of Billy Beane didn't win nearly as many games. I'm not saying advanced statistics aren't important. I'm just saying that Billy Beane lost whatever advantage he used to have.

[Lex Luthor]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

7-22 in one run games. /end thread

Don't one run games count?

[TLO]

Overrated.

[FringeNC]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

7-22 in one run games. /end thread

Yep. The A's have about a +50 run differential and are about 10 games under .500. That's hard to do. The anti-Orioles of a few years ago.

[Tombstone RJ]

Originally Posted by Brainiac

One year ago the Oakland A's had the best record in baseball at 59-36. Then on July 31st the A's traded Yoenis Cespedes for John Lester. The A's record before the trade 66-41. The A's record after the trade was 22-33.

In the offseason Billy Beane traded Josh Donaldson to the Toronto Blue Jays for third baseman Brett Lawrie, right-hander Kendall Graveman, left-hander Sean Nolin and minor league shortstop Franklin Barreto. Donaldson and Cespedes were the two best players on the A's roster. Now they're both gone and the team went from first to worst. Josh Donaldson is having an MVP season. Cespedes barely missed making the All Star team and is having a solid season. The A's have the worst record in the American League at 41-50.

It looks to me like Billy Beane has destroyed this team. Has Billy Beane totally ****ed up, or do Lawrie, Graveman, Nolin and Barreto have so much potential that the Donaldson trade could eventually work out in favor of the A's?

My understanding is that the A's are the poorest team in the majors and really can't afford to pay big contracts so Beane basically unloads the guys who are gonna get big contracts and reloads with young/developing talent.

So, is this the case with these two whom Beane traded, I don't know. But that has pretty much been the story of the A's for the last 30 years.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by Brainiac

One year ago the Oakland A's had the best record in baseball at 59-36. Then on July 31st the A's traded Yoenis Cespedes for John Lester. The A's record before the trade 66-41. The A's record after the trade was 22-33.

In the offseason Billy Beane traded Josh Donaldson to the Toronto Blue Jays for third baseman Brett Lawrie, right-hander Kendall Graveman, left-hander Sean Nolin and minor league shortstop Franklin Barreto. Donaldson and Cespedes were the two best players on the A's roster. Now they're both gone and the team went from first to worst. Josh Donaldson is having an MVP season. Cespedes barely missed making the All Star team and is having a solid season. The A's have the worst record in the American League at 41-50.

It looks to me like Billy Beane has destroyed this team. Has Billy Beane totally ****ed up, or do Lawrie, Graveman, Nolin and Barreto have so much potential that the Donaldson trade could eventually work out in favor of the A's?

Cespedes was wildly overrated and his contract is structured such that whomever has him does not get a comp pick when he enters FA. The A's were not as good as their 66-41 mark, nor were they as bad as their finish.

He went all-in last year and Lester choked his ****ing balls off in the Wild Card game. This is the downside of that approach. But, wisely, rather than just trying to stay around 84 wins he traded away the criminally overrated Samardzija and got Semien, who has provided solid starter play at SS, and a longterm prospect at 1B.

The Donaldson trade certainly doesn't look good given his production, though. He is an elite player. Also, Zobrist not playing like the WAR monster he was in Tampa is crushing, as is the continued decline of Fatler.

[chiefzilla1501]

Beane hasn't lost his touch. The problem is he has a lot of fast followers.

His moneyball strategy was brilliant. Was less to do with spending smart as it was using advanced stats to make scouting decions. But soon other teams caught up and suddenly everyone caught up to them analytically. After that, Beane moved to focusing on defense. Judging by the way teams are stacking on defense, looks like the league caught up to them there.

Wonder what next wave he'll start. Whenever he does, he'll have a few years to have the advantage.

[Tombstone RJ]

you wanna know who is the biggest joke of a GM in the majors is? Check out the Rockies. If the Rockies hired B.Beane as their GM I'd be in heaven.

[Pitt Gorilla]

If Beane thought that Butler was worth that contract, it's hard to believe he ever had "touch."

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

Beane hasn't lost his touch. The problem is he has a lot of fast followers.

His moneyball strategy was brilliant. Was less to do with spending smart as it was using advanced stats to make scouting decions. But soon other teams caught up and suddenly everyone caught up to them analytically. After that, Beane moved to focusing on defense. Judging by the way teams are stacking on defense, looks like the league caught up to them there.

Wonder what next wave he'll start. Whenever he does, he'll have a few years to have the advantage.

He didn't move to focusing on anything; he found market inefficiencies. It could be in how productive HS bats are, or international signings.

He's actually like Doyle Brunson in that by educating the masses on his approach he marginalized his own ability to succeed.

[Tombstone RJ]

Billy Beane is a fine example of the old saying "Necessity is the mother of invention." When you don't have unlimited funds like the Yankees, and you are the poorest team in the majors, well, you gotta think of new ways to stay competitive. Like him or hate him (I understand the Royals and the A's current dislike of each other), he's a true innovator.

[MGM]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

He didn't move to focusing on anything; he found market inefficiencies. It could be in how productive HS bats are, or international signings.

He's actually like Doyle Brunson in that by educating the masses on his approach he marginalized his own ability to succeed.

Go **** your mother!