Beane 2, MacPhail 0

[furryburres]

Yes, but the Phillies also made a good trade, because Utley and Rollins weren't going anywhere, so they could trade Cardenas easily, and Outman was being groomed as a bullpen guy anyway. The way he got by, on deception and control, is easily replaceable. Gillick was more than willing to make that trade.

If you don't remember, GMs are now afraid of trading with McPhail after seeing what happened with Bedard, and what happened to the MAriners front office afterwards.

[frankpembleton]

I just said they shouldn't be safe. Not that they needed to be traded based on age, but the fact of the matter is that we aren't going to be competing with the Rays and Sox for a few years, no real need to hold on to anyone who will not be a part of that.

No, I generally agree with you in that we need to be smart and keep players that will be around and still producing when we are actually ready to compete. I just don't want to be referenced in some RShack post about everyone on OH wanting to trade any player over the age of 30.

[BaltimoreGhost]

Beane always does nice deals, but to me, it seems he is always in full rebuild mode. At some point, he is going to have to win something to ensure his legacy and show he is deserving of all the praise that is tossed his way. He builds competitive teams and as soon as they start to win, he trades players away for prospects and repeats the cycle. To me, fielding a competitive team year in and year out whether with prospects, or high priced free agents is still grinding your wheels if you aren't competing to win it all.

Its great he puts a competitive product on the field for his fans, but the A's are not close to being a world series contender.

It'd be nice to see the O's in full rebuild mode for once...you know I'd take 7 games over .500 over 4 games under any day. If you think we are closer than the A's in WS contention, you might wanna open your eyes. If Beane had our resources to work with, We'd be pretty damn good if you ask me.

[frankpembleton]

Beane always does nice deals, but to me, it seems he is always in full rebuild mode. At some point, he is going to have to win something to ensure his legacy and show he is deserving of all the praise that is tossed his way. He builds competitive teams and as soon as they start to win, he trades players away for prospects and repeats the cycle. To me, fielding a competitive team year in and year out whether with prospects, or high priced free agents is still grinding your wheels if you aren't competing to win it all.

Its great he puts a competitive product on the field for his fans, but the A's are not close to being a world series contender.

They've been a World Series contender 6 of the last 10 years. If you make the playoffs, you're a World Series contender. Beane doesn't need a World Series to validate all the praise he receives.

[The Rick]

This is an interesting thread.

In the only stat that really matters, it's actually Macphail 2, Beane 0. That's right. MacPhail has won two rings, Beane, in all his "genius" ways is sporting a big fat 0.

[frankpembleton]

So, I take it that you guys are knowledgeable about the three players Beane got for Blanton and you feel they represent a good amount of talent, right? Can you go through them real fast for me? I'm still studying the trade so that I don't draw conclusions too quickly. Thanks

You wouldn't trade Blanton for that package or even just Cardenas?

[BaltimoreGhost]

No, I generally agree with you in that we need to be smart and keep players that will be around and still producing when we are actually ready to compete. I just don't want to be referenced in some RShack post about everyone on OH wanting to trade any player over the age of 30.

Gotcha...And I like Scott and even Huff and Millar, but if being competitive in a few years means getting rid of those guys, than I'm all for it. The only real guys I'd like to see dumped are Payton and like Bradford, otherwise we should be smart about who we deal for.

[bigbird]

And what 2 pitchers were we suppose to trade to get the deals the A's received??? When Beane wins something call me!

[IamtheSkip]

Beane always does nice deals, but to me, it seems he is always in full rebuild mode. At some point, he is going to have to win something to ensure his legacy and show he is deserving of all the praise that is tossed his way. He builds competitive teams and as soon as they start to win, he trades players away for prospects and repeats the cycle. To me, fielding a competitive team year in and year out whether with prospects, or high priced free agents is still grinding your wheels if you aren't competing to win it all.

Its great he puts a competitive product on the field for his fans, but the A's are not close to being a world series contender.

Beane also has a extremely difficult, and notoriously tight, ownership group hanging over his head.

He'd of hung on to some the stars he'd had come and go if he could have. Don't you think it bugs him to constantly watch the many talented players he recruits wind up on other teams?

The point is that he still finds people. Year in, year out.

[The Rick]

They've been a World Series contender 6 of the last 10 years. If you make the playoffs, you're a World Series contender. Beane doesn't need a World Series to validate all the praise he receives.

Seems to me like they've been World Series pretenders. Let's not forget they've played in the AL West all of those years. Is he a great GM? Absolutely. But has he done what he's needed to do to put a team on the field that should win? Nope. He's done just enough by constantly rebuilding to field a winning team in a notoriously weak division.

[BaltimoreGhost]

This is an interesting thread.

In the only stat that really matters, it's actually Macphail 2, Beane 0. That's right. MacPhail has won two rings, Beane, in all his "genius" ways is sporting a big fat 0.

Got me there, but I'm short-sighted haha. To my defense though it was about 20 years ago since MacPhail won, and it can be argued that the game has changed significantly since. Bartman did crush his hopes the one year in Chi though.

[Birds08]

And what 2 pitchers were we suppose to trade to get the deals the A's received??? When Beane wins something call me!

With all due respect, Oakland is good almost every year. Considering their small budget, they are a great team. Winning in the playoffs involves a lot of luck, and the A's have gotten unlucky. But it can't be denied they have been one of the few good teams year in and year out over the past 10 or so years.

[The Rick]

With all due respect, Oakland is good almost every year. Considering their small budget, they are a great team. Winning in the playoffs involves a lot of luck, and the A's have gotten unlucky. But it can't be denied they have been one of the few good teams year in and year out over the past 10 or so years.

It also can't be denied that they're in a division with a lot of opportunity. Their pitching has also kept them in it. They've never had an offense that had me thinking they just might win it all. And thus, they haven't. Sad part is now the teams have more money due to revenue sharing, but they're sitting on their wallets.

[SevisonJN]

Forgive me if this thread is too much like another. I just wanted to vent my frustration and see if anyone else is knee-jerking at this point.

With the trade of a pitcher who has managed a record of 5-12 with a 4.96 ERA, (in one of baseballs best pitcher's parks mind you), for three prospects, Billy Beane has effectively moved two of his players already from a team clearly in mathematical contention at 7 games over .500.

Somehow the Orioles, who are supposedly openly rebuilding, and are cellar dwelling in the A.L., haven't so much as moved a single player. Don't you think the Phillies would have rather have added a tad more for a Daniel Cabrera or possibly even a tad less for Brian Burress. Ok, Ok, we have B-Rob...now, but with our void of solid position guys up the middle you'd think we would hoard what we could get and move from there.

Don't get me wrong, I'm thoroughly impressed with our dividends from the winter trades, however I seem to be witnessing what we all were so frustrated with in the winter which is the slow bureaucratic-like maneuvering of this front office.

Personally I'd like to see a fire sale with nobody over the age of 28 safe from being dealt, however this is looking very unlikely as every day passes with no real news.

I think this is a knew jerk post. Blanton is considered a better commodity than Cabrera (Don't know why) though I would imagine what AM would require for Cabrera would be more than the A's got for Blanton. Trading an above average innings eater (Our #2 pitcher)for a single top prospect is not something I would be ready to do right now. The Orioles could sign good prospects from around the globe if they would be willing to spend the cash. We seem to over evaluate prospects and under evaluate proven starters (Which Cabrera is).

[The Rick]

Got me there, but I'm short-sighted haha. To my defense though it was about 20 years ago since MacPhail won, and it can be argued that the game has changed significantly since. Bartman did crush his hopes the one year in Chi though.

The beauty (if you'd call it that) of the Chicago job is that while MacPhail didn't win a World Series there, neither did the GM's of that club for the prior century. Pretty much a win-win for him.