Star Exodus From Oakland Is No Reason For A's Fans To Lose Faith
KCBS News Anchor Stan Bunger (who along with KCBS Sports Anchor Steve Bitker are the on-air duo known as KCBS Sports Fans) offers his unique sports analysis.
OAKLAND (CBS SF) - After a series of high-profile (and cost cutting) trades, it's currently en vogue to take a swipe at the Billy Beane pinata. I'll pass, and here's why: the A's, under Billy Beane, have been incredibly successful.
Forget about "Moneyball." Forget about the player turnstile. Well, that Yoenis Cespedes T-shirt giveaway day three days after he was traded WAS a bit awkward.
No, Beane's record speaks for itself: in his 16 seasons as general manager, the A's have averaged 88 wins a year and been to postseason play 8 times. The gripe is that they've consistently been early-round flameouts, but at least they've been there. Plenty of fans in other cities would be thrilled with results like the A's have posted.
Postseason baseball is its own world, where luck and the hot hand loom large. It's a fool's errand to predict outcomes. Let's not forget that the A's were sent home this autumn by a Kansas City team that came within a MadBum of winning the World Series, and that the guy whose 8th inning meltdown in that wild card game gave KC a chance to come back is the very one being chased by many teams as this offseason's hottest free agent pitcher.
The stark reality is that Beane's A's have been a pretty successful team that hasn't managed to grab the brass ring at the end. If that makes them failures, then misery loves company, because during Beane's tenure, only 9 of the 30 MLB teams have carted home a Series trophy (and most of those have been won by four teams: the Giants, Yankees, Red Sox and Cardinals).
For A's fans, it's a pair of existential questions: do you want to see your team have a shot at October baseball and are you willing to accept Bean's machinations as part of the bargain? Because the third question has already been answered by the facts: the guy DOES appear to know what he's doing.