Oakland Athletics: 2014 Offseason Latest Chapter in the A’s Way
Every team in Major League Baseball is defined by their “way.” The Oakland Athletics are no different, except it’s not as pretentious as the St. Louis Cardinals or as laughable as the Chicago Cubs.
The A’s Way is easy to define. It has nothing to do with wins, losses or playoff misery. It isn’t defined by the A’s style of play. Even with their infatuation with advanced statistics, the A’s have shown the ability to deviate from the original “Moneyball” idea (See: Stolen Base philosophy).
Instead, the A’s Way is knowing that every few years jerseys will be rendered completely useless. The A’s Way refers to the cycle that changes over when a roster’s core has maximized its potential. In its wake, fans are left spending Spring Training learning the new faces, new numbers and trying to figure out the everyday lineup.
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It’s going to happen again in 2015, A’s fans. The A’s Way will be in full-force.
So what exactly makes up the A’s Way? What does it involve?
Well, the biggest misconception is that the A’s build through the Draft and groom the fresh-face talent in their farm system. Last season, the A’s featured two homegrown stars on their regular season roster: Sean Doolittle and Sonny Gray. Everyone else was acquired via trade or free agency.
The A’s Way mandates that the A’s value players that will offer an immediate impact over top prospects. Case in point: Addison Russell was dealt for Jeff Samardzjia, because Samardzjia could help the team immediately rather than Russell in an all-in gamble that blew up in Billy Beane’s face.
That brings us to the next part of the A’s Way.
The A’s Way also means trading away players at their maximum value for Major League-ready players, who can replicate production of a former star. That’s why the Josh Donaldson trade makes sense under this concept.
Donaldson has been lights out for the past two season, but given his potential cost and likelihood for regression, it made sense to deal him to the Toronto Blue Jays for Brett Lawrie and a ton of prospects.
Lawrie is younger, cheaper and has the potential to replicate Donaldson’s numbers, provided he stays healthy over the course of a season. The added bonus of prospects only reloads the farm system for either A) the potential to bring up another great player sooner than later or B) trade bait for if/when the A’s are in contention to make a run. The same can be said for the deals involving Samardzjia and Brandon Moss.
There have been instances when the A’s Way has succeeded far beyond anyone’s expectation.
Look at 2005, the year after the A’s traded away Mark Mulder and Tim Hudson, two-thirds of their “Big Three.” The A’s were able to win 88 games, while also paving the way for the 2006 season. You know, the same 2006 season where the A’s won a playoff series? Yeah, that was all built because of the A’s way.
And who could forget 2012? The year where nobody thought the A’s were going to compete, only to win the AL West title on the final day of the regular season, kicking off the string of three consecutive playoff appearances.
Then there are also negatives of the A’s Way. After the 2006 season, the A’s underwent another phase in the A’s Way only to have losing seasons in four of the next five seasons.
This brings us back to what Beane did in the offseason. The A’s have moved on from the latest successful iteration of the A’s Way and is starting it all over again.
The moves Beane has made this offseason are all part of it. None of it should surprise or anger fans. It’s what defines the A’s. It’s a part of the roller coaster ride fans became a part of the moment the A’s became a small-market franchise with the inability to compete with its fellow American League rivals.
Like the Cubs, Cardinals and other fanbases, A’s fans need to embrace this aspect of the franchise. It will help the moves made this offseason make a more sense.