Major League Baseball

Beane has a history of being right -- but his moves are head-scratchers

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 2:32 p.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

foxsports

Let’s start with this — Athletics GM Billy Beane deserves the benefit of the doubt.

Deserves it because the A’s made the playoffs three straight years after trading pitchers Trevor Cahill, Gio Gonzalez and Andrew Bailey following the 2011 season.

Deserves it because the A’s, considering their low-revenue position, cannot be reasonably expected to reach the postseason every year.

I know A’s fans are freaking out, but before passing judgment, I want to see the complete portrait for 2015. Even then, it will be a long time before we know just how Beane fared with his latest flurry of moves.

One thing, though:

The returns for Josh Donaldson, Brandon Moss and Jeff Samardzija, when viewed individually, each are subject to debate.

Some rival executives wonder whether Beane could have gotten the same package for Donaldson — third baseman Brett Lawrie, pitchers Kendall Graveman and Sean Nolin, shortstop Franklin Barreto — if he had waited until next offseason or even the one after that. Well, the A’s felt they couldn’t wait, that they lacked depth and had too many holes to fill, including shortstop, even with Donaldson.

Moss had three black marks against him — he was coming off hip surgery, his numbers were in decline and he was projected to earn $7 million in arbitration. But at a time when the industry is starved for power, a player with 76 home runs the past three seasons brought only minor-league infielder Joey Wendle, who was not considered one of the Indians’ top prospects.

Finally, there is Samardzija, who is going to the White Sox for a package that includes infielders Marcus Semien and Rangel Ravelo, right-hander Chris Bassitt and catcher Josh Phegley.

Like the other trades, this one could turn out fine, particularly considering Samardzija is entering his free-agent year. But when you go back to the original Samardzija deal, Beane has now traded right-hander Dan Straily and two of his top prospects — shortstop Addison Russell and outfielder Billy McKinney — for two months of Samardzija, two months of Jason Hammel and the package he is getting from the White Sox.

It would be disingenuous for me to criticize the Samardzija/Hammel trade now; I raved about it at the time, and Yoenis Cespedes-for-Jon Lester, too. Beane went for it, the season didn’t turn out the way he wanted and now he is retooling, fearing that the team ultimately might crash if he waits too long.

I’ll say it again — he deserves the benefit of the doubt, particularly when his next step will be to reinvest his savings in select free agents. I’ll keep saying it, too, even as I’m losing hair while scratching my head and trying to figure out what Beane is doing.

share

Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

Major League Baseball