The Misconceptions of Moneyball and Why Billy Beane Is No Longer Elite
Billy Beane is one of the most recognizable names in baseball. All us baseball fans know who he is, and now thanks to Moneyball hitting the big screen this summer, every one else does too.
What Beane did with the A’s in 2002 was remarkable. Free Agency disemboweled the A’s and Beane had to think outside the box to fix it. There is a misconception by many what Moneyball actually is. All Moneyball is was finding the market inefficiencies and getting the best team money could buy. Unlike the Yankees or Red Sox, money can only buy so much with the Oakland A’s, which is why Beane exploited a part of the game that wasn’t introduced yet. Moneyball isn’t about throwing away traditional theories and scouting like the movie tried to portray.
Let’s put Moneyball with an analogy. Let’s say Bob and Tom have to reach the Pacific Ocean from New York City. Bob has $1500 to spend and Tom has $375. It’s easy for Bob to get to the Pacific because he could just fly there. Tom might have to catch a bus, hitchhike, or sneak onto a cargo train. It’s hard to compete with teams if you build it the same way without the capital. That’s all Moneyball is. It wasn’t about on-base percentage. It wasn’t about not stealing bases. It wasn’t about abandoning scouting. And it wasn’t about Beane eliminating all conventional thought. It was, and still is, about getting the best return on investment. Whether that be getting cheap on-base skills from cast-offs, or building up a player’s value before trading (i.e Beane’s philosophy on closers)
Now we fast forward to 2011, Billy Beane is still the general manager of the Oakland A’s. An A’s team that hasn’t made the post-season since 2006. On-Base percentage is no longer overlooked and Beane is now an elder GM. Names like Epstein, Daniels, Friedman,and Hoyer are all now what Beane was. Is Billy Beane still elite?
I say no.
Beane bas been his own worst enemy. He gave baseball a blueprint. He let his secret out for everyone to use. With the secret out, Beane has constantly tried to reinvent himself. When the A’s traded for Matt Holliday, Beane was trying to exploit defense. Holliday, Orlando Cabrera, Rajai Davis, and Jack Hanrahan were all considered defensive wizards at the time. That was good enough for a 75-87 season, which included a Matt Holliday trade to St. Louis.
Yesterday, Beane traded Trevor Cahill to the Diamondbacks for Jarrod Parker. One 23-year old has pitched 200 innings the last two years. The other 23-year old pitched one game after recovering from Tommy John surgery. For a man who use to make his name by ripping off fellow GMs, Beane didn’t get the upper-hand on this one.
I know it’s hard for Beane to win in Oakland, but I think it’s time to stop considering the man elite. It is a shame we can’t see what Beane would do with a high payroll. He would definitely be able to prove his proclaimed genius that way.
Beane was to baseball as a Nintendo was to the video game industry. At the time, it was the coolest thing you could have. Through the years more money was dumped into video game systems, and the Nintendo was left in the dust.
Too bad Beane can’t just blow on the A’s to fix them.
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