January 3, 2008

Nick Swisher Traded from A's to White Sox : The Oakland As have traded Nick Swisher to the Chicago White Sox for minor leaguers Gio Gonzalez, Fautino De Los Santos and outfielder Ryan Sweeney, closing the book on the Moneyball draft of 2002. "Basically, Moneyball happened, and it didn't change the course of the A's," local sportswriter Tim Kawakami blogs. "Nice story. Good book. Not a lot of history made by those seven players."

read story | posted by rcade to Baseball at 7:10 PM CDT (6 comments total)

Maybe I'm blinded by my love for stats, but that sounds like more old school reporter ignorance, as though the concept described in the book were simply the 2002 draft and not the approach. If the players Dan Haren & Swisher were traded for turn into stars, does that make Beane a genius or lucky? The A's have had a few bad seasons in a row, which is to be expected from a small-market team. What was not to be expected wass the run of success they saw in the early part of the decade. Also, only 3 of the 7 early picks made the majors-- that's supposed to be failure? What's the average success percentage for early-round picks?

posted by yerfatma at 7:48 PM CDT on January 3

Personally, I think that Beane is a very smart GM, not a genius, but a capable guy who knows how to work with what he's got. Tim didn't seem to really be very high on the players Beane has drafted.. and the article seems to skip around a bit on the quality the A's have brought in throughout the years. However yerfatma, I would think that the 3 in 7 ratio isnt bad, especially when you consider they recieved 3 players for Swisher. Another 4 prospects for Haren. If 3 players could end up making significant contributions, Beane would consider the mover successful (So I think anyway). Prospects are never guaranteed, but I think that the gamble is worth the risk seeing as the A's have a ways to go before they can be considered legit contenders. My interpretation of Beanes strategy is to score as many prime prospects as possible, hoping that the majoprity of them will turn into the Damon's, Giambi's, etc. One day the A's will have an impressive array of young studs, which hopefully will lead to some winning.

posted by Kendall at 8:13 PM CDT on January 3

Exactly what the Sox needed, the loss of some good young talent, and the addition of another slow .260 hitter (notice the sarcasm). I admire Kenny Williams for trying to shake things up, but the Sox will have a pretty bad team average again next year, and with KC, Detroit, and Cleveland on the rise it looks like the Southsiders and Minnesotta are in the tank unless I'm really wrong.

posted by spoosh09 at 8:41 PM CDT on January 3

especially when you consider they recieved 3 players for Swisher. Another 4 prospects for Haren

Good point. If those original 7 picks get transformed into 7 major league caliber players 5-7 years later, that's even better success. Just maybe not for the fans.

posted by yerfatma at 6:37 AM CDT on January 4

This is basically what the Marlins have been doing for several years with more success than any other team; they unload practically everyone and bring in top prospects, wind up winning a World Series, then do it all over again a few years later. A roller coaster ride for true fans of the team, to be sure.

posted by dyams at 7:30 AM CDT on January 4

I feel badly for the fans in Oakland who want the team to stay in Oakland. They're being asked to put up with 2-3 years of full-on suckage (fun to watch, but not much winning), and then just when the team's ready to win again, they'll leave (supposedly for Fremont). Whaddyagonnado.

posted by diastematic at 9:07 AM CDT on January 4

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