A's paying dearly for their judgement errors
by TRACY RINGOLSBY, Special to FOXSports.com
They have told their fans to be patient.
The real message, however, is that the A's are vulnerable to misjudgments, just like every other team in baseball.
General manager Billy Beane is one of the more innovative and personable executives in the game, but for all his planning and foresight, even Beane makes errors in judgment.
That's why the A's are facing the reality of struggling the next couple of years, why Beane had to ship off the likes of Nick Swisher and Dan Haren, and why the A's can let manager Bob Geren stumble along without anyone feeling like he is keeping the franchise from contending.
For an organization that is in order, Swisher and Haren are young enough and on management-friendly contracts that should have made them the nucleus about which a team regroups, not the trade bait.
So why did the A's unload them? Well, in praising the A's for the way they have rebuilt their farm system with the off-season deals for Haren — four of the top 10 prospects in the Oakland system came from Arizona in that deal — and Swisher — two other top 10 prospects came from the White Sox in that deal — what is not mentioned is that the A's not only had gotten old and unable to contend, but their farm system was feeble, too.
Swisher and Haren had to be dealt to restock the farm system. Instead of having the young players ready to step in at the big-league level and keep them a contender, the A's are having to rebuild.
The Moneyball Draft of 2002 was raised recently when catcher Jeremy Brown, the controversial player selected 35th overall by the A's, retired for personal reasons. Brown was the major overdraft that the book proclaimed as testimony to the A's brilliance because they paid well below slot money in signing Brown for $350,000. Ignored was the fact, that even by the A's own admission, had Brown been allowed to slip in the draft to where he belonged he most likely would have received around $5,000.
What never gets much discussion is that the six other players the A's took before the start of the second round that season all received bonuses in line with where they were drafted. All were projected to be selected in the first four rounds of the draft, so none was a surprise pick. In fact, two of the five largest signing bonuses in Oakland history were given to Swisher, the 16th player selected overall receiving $1.78 million, and right-handed pitcher Joe Blanton, drafted 24th overall and given $1.4 million.
Selig in expensive company
Commissioner Bud Selig checked in at No. 11 on baseball's employee payroll standings, earning $15.06 million last year according to SportsBusiness Journal.
Ten players earned more than Selig in 2007, according to USA Today:
Jason Giambi, Yankees, $23.4 million
Alex Rodriguez, Yankees, $22.7 million
Derek Jeter, Yankees, $21.6 million
Manny Ramirez, Red Sox, $17 million
Todd Helton, Rockies, $16.6 million
Bartolo Colon, Angels, and Andy Pettitte, Yankees, $16 million apiece
Jason Schmidt, Dodgers, $15.7 million
Barry Bonds, Giants, $15.53 million
Richie Sexson, Mariners, $15.5 million
Truth be told, Selig had a better year than Giambi, Colon, Schmidt and Sexson. He may be a dart board for cynics, but under his watch baseball has reached all-time highs in attendance and revenues. The revenues have grown from $1.2 billion in 1992 to $6.2 billion last year. Baseball has reached labor peace, avoiding work stoppages in the last two Basic Agreement negotiations — the first two since the creation of the Players Association.
There has been the ugliness of steroids, and Selig has to share in the blame. But what is constantly forgotten in the finger pointing is that for more than three decades, first as an owner and then as the commissioner, Selig was a major advocate for baseball adopting drug testing, and once he was able to get the MLBPA to agree to testing, baseball implemented the strongest drug program of any professional sports league.
Starters making a comeback
How much of a demand is there for pitching?
Well, Chan Ho Park, who made one appearance big-league appearances last year, allowing seven runs in four innings with the Mets, is a legit contender for the fifth starter spot with the Dodgers. With Jason Schmidt out at least two months, Park is battling Esteban Loaiza for the job. Loaiza does have the edge that the Dodgers, who picked him off waivers from Oakland down the stretch last year, is guaranteed $7 million. He was 2-4 with a 5.79 ERA in 37 1/3 innings with the Dodgers and Oakland last year.
And then there is Kansas City, where the Royals are giving a serious look at 39-year-old Hideo Nomo for a rotation spot. Nomo hasn't pitched in the big leagues since 2005, was limited to one game with Triple-A Charlotte in 2006, and then went to Venezuela last winter to pitch in hopes of resurrecting his big-league career. His stock has fallen a long ways since he was with the Dodgers and pitched the only no-hitter in Coors Field history back in 1996.
Tracy Ringolsby is entering his 33rd year of covering major league baseball. The 2005 winner of the J.G. Taylor Spink Award, and enshrined in 2006 into the writers wing at the Baseball Hall of Fame, Ringolsby and his wife live with their four horses outside of his native of Cheyenne, Wyo. He can be reached at ringolsbyt@rockymountainnews.com.
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