Oakland A's: Billy Beane's Best Deals of the Past Decade

Teams can acquire players in one of three ways; by drafting them out of high school or college, by trading for them or by signing them, after they reach free agency.

Oakland's General Manager Billy Beane has to make up his team—on a budget. The draft is open to him, as to any other general manager, and he gets a few extra draft picks as compensation when richer teams take his star players in free agency.

Trading is trickier.  In Beane's case, it usually means trading a veteran player for an equivalent low-paid rookie, plus some prospects. Beane is a good trader, so this does not hurt Oakland. The danger is that he may become TOO well-regarded in this role, meaning that other teams wouldn't want to trade with him.

The majority of (mostly expensive) free-agent signing possibilities are not available to Oakland. Miraculously, two of the best deals in the past decade were free-agent signings, for less than $1 million each.

Signing Scott Hatteberg, 2001

Scott Hatteberg's throwing arm was injured in 2001. Ordinarily, that would be a career-limiting disability for a catcher.

But Billy Beane and the Oakland A's didn't see a busted catcher. They saw a league-average hitter who could also draw walks and who was therefore a premium "batter." If he could be redeployed at first base, he would be a steal at $950,000.

No, Beane did not drop in at Hatteberg's home unannounced on Christmas as he did in the movie. But he did call Hatteberg's agent that day, and Hatteberg, who received the "relay," confessed that the movie DID capture what he felt like, according to InsideBayArea.com

No one could quite replace first baseman Jason Giambi. But Hatteberg could replace about one-third of Giambi's offensive premium over league average at one-sevententh the cost. Plus, he became a superior first baseman, and his defensive premium over Giambi solved the A's other problem, replacing the defensive premium in the outfield that left with Johnny Damon.

In Moneyball (the book, not the movie), Paul DePodesta calculated that nine clones of Hatteberg would score 925 runs a season, on par with stars Eric Chavez and Miguel Tejada (who together made up the remaining two-thirds of Giambi's lost offense). This compared to 897 runs scored by the whole New York Yankees team. 

Trading Mark Mulder for Danny Haren, Kiko Calero and Daric Barton, 2004

One for three. And all three worked out, to varying degrees.

Mark Mulder was regarded as one of the A's "Big Three" who took them to the playoffs in 2002. So the St. Louis Cardinals were eager to trade a reliever and prospects for him.

But starting pitcher prospect, Danny Haren, became a Cy Young candidate within a couple years. Reliever Kiko Calero became a staple of the A's bullpen and Daric Barton, the least of the three, a utility infielder after spending a couple years in the minors. The whole lot of them cost about one-third of Mulder's salary.

Mulder had one more good year in 2005, then fell apart in 2006. During the three years he was with the As, Haren alone turned out to be worth more than Mulder. Throwing in the two "extras" was all in Oakland's favor.

Signing Frank Thomas

Known as the "Big Hurt," Thomas became available at age 38 in 2006, when his contract with the Chicago White Sox expired. He could be had for $500,000 for one year or $2 million for two years.

Beane snapped him up on the former terms. As DH, Thomas provided the offensive pop that the A's lineup sorely lacked, and the team went to the playoffs for the last time.

It would have been even better if Beane had gone with the other option, two years for $1 million apiece. After seeing what happened in 2006, the Toronto Blue Jays snapped up Thomas in 2007 for $5.6 million, then tried paying him "what he was worth" or $12.6 million in 2008.

Not even Thomas was worth that kind of money at that stage of his career. But he was a bargain in both 2006 and 2007.

Trading Joe Blanton for Josh Outman and Two Prospects

In 2008, Blanton, an established pitcher, had an ERA in the low 4.00s. He had been Oakland's second pick in the 2002 draft, discussed at length in the Moneyball book but wasn't quite the star featured in the book.

The ERA of Outman, a rookie, was in the mid 4.00s. But the Philadephia Phillies wanted a more established hurler for their playoff un.

Blanton's ERA rose steadily rose since then and is now around 5.00. Outman's fell and is now below 4.00.

Like the trade of Mulder for Haren, it would have been a good deal, straight up. But Oakland also got two prospects in the bargain. One of them, Adrian Cardenas, is now playing Triple-A ball and may be called up next year.

Trading Matt Holliday for Michael Taylor (in Effect)

Matt Holliday was traded for two players and prospect. One of them, Clayton Mortensen, was later released, and the other one, Brett Wallace, was traded for Michael Taylor. Shane Petersen was the prospect.

Taylor put up Hatteberg-like numbers in the minor leagues, average hitting, superior walk totals for an above-average batter. It's kind of early to say what his major league performance will be like, except to say that it is consistent with what he has done earlier. And as a rookie, he is making even less than Hatteberg did.

Holliday has been putting up almost Giambi like numbers since he left Oakland, for a Giambi-like salary of $17 million a year. Thus, he is the kind of player that Oakland would like to have but can afford for only a short period of time. But a team full of "Taylors" would still be a superior team.

Unlike Hatteberg, Taylor also came with a "kicker." Shane Petersen is now in Triple-A and should be called up next year.