We’ve spent the summer discussing the Braves’ lineup and the flaws therein. The arrival of the A’s this weekend prompted a thought: What if the Braves, who stink in the awarding of big-ticket contracts, were to emulate Oakland and seek to do more while spending less?
Granted, Braves general manager Frank Wren hasn’t been the subject of an adoring book, as was the A’s Billy Beane in Michael Lewis’ “Moneyball.” But before we laugh this notion out of court, let’s note that Wren’s best work has come when scrounging. (Think Aaron Harang, Eric O’Flaherty and Anthony Varvaro, all signed off waivers.)
The A’s have the best record in baseball; as of Saturday, the Braves had the seventh-best record in the National League. Each made the playoffs in 2012 and 2013, each winning 94 and 96 games. Neither advanced in the postseason. Each lost two starting pitchers to Tommy John surgery for the entirety of 2014. If this isn’t an apples-to-apples comparison, it’s not quite chalk and cheese.
The Braves can’t outspend the Dodgers and the Yankees; they do outspend the A’s. At $82 million, Oakland’s payroll entering the season was baseball’s fifth-lowest. (This according to the Los Angeles Times.) At $112 million — a figure inflated by the emergency signing of Ervin Santana — the Braves’ was the 13th-highest. The Braves’ attendance is 17th-best in the majors; the A’s rank 24th.
The A’s became the darlings of the sabermetric set because of Beane’s dealings, based largely on players’ ability to reach base. As Brandon Moss, the Oakland first baseman/outfielder/DH who’s from Lithonia and who lives in Madison, said Friday: “ ‘Moneyball’ was about taking advantage of market inefficiency and getting as many wins as possible for the fewest dollars.”
But “Moneyball” was published in 2003. Things have changed. From 2000 through 2005, the A’s ranked among the American League’s top five in on-base percentage five times. From 2006 through 2013, they didn’t rank in the top five once. (They’re third now; they’re first in walks and runs.) The A’s payroll has doubled since 2002, and Beane just flouted a sabermetric rule by overpaying a closer. Last winter Oakland traded for Jim Johnson, who was owed $10 million for 2014. He was cut in July.
Said Moss: “We’re not just trying to win as many games as we can at a low cost; we’re trying to win as many games as we can.”
That was made manifest in July, when Beane dealt shortstop Addison Russell, considered one of baseball’s best prospects, to the Cubs for starting pitchers Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel. The A’s then sent outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, their most gifted and highest-salaried player, to Boston for Jon Lester. Said Moss: “That was 100 percent a non-‘Moneyball’ type of trade … We got one of the two best left-handers in the game.”
Landing Lester was surely a case of Beane, who once said, “My (expletive) doesn’t work in the postseason,” seeking to deliver a longer October. The A’s are 1-7 in playoff series under this GM. The past two Octobers they were shut out in Game 5 of the division series by Detroit’s Justin Verlander.
Said right fielder Josh Reddick, who’s from Effingham County: “That trade was a bombshell. It was like, ‘We’re ready to do this thing.’”
Lester can become a free agent at season’s end and almost certainly will sign elsewhere. Lopping Cespedes’ $10 million salary will help with retooling, but that’s the thing about the A’s: They’re always retooling. Of the 25 men on their roster, two were Oakland draftees. Seventeen came in trades; four signed as free agents, including Moss, who agreed to a minor-league contract in 2011; two were claimed off waivers.
Yes, the Braves bungled the deals afforded Dan Uggla and B.J. Upton. Still, imagine how it would be if they couldn’t have spent big to re-up Freddie Freeman, Julio Teheran, Andrelton Simmons and Craig Kimbrel. The Braves have a clear idea of what their core will be in 2017; the A’s are forever in search of spare parts.
And they require a lot of them. The A’s platoon at almost every spot. As noted by ESPN’s Peter Pascarelli, only two Oakland players — third baseman Josh Donaldson, who once was a catcher, and shortstop Jed Lowrie — have made more than 100 starts at a given position. Facing the lefty Alex Wood on Friday, the A’s deployed eight right-handed hitters. The left-handed Moss was omitted despite having 23 homers and 76 RBIs — more than any Brave.
“We do things differently,” Moss said. “They’ve constructed this team to take advantage of guys with a unique skill set and to exploit the platoon advantage.”
Said manager Bob Melvin: “We’re going after their starter (Friday), not their relievers. We’re all about who starts against a particular pitcher and what our endgame moves are.”
On Friday, not much worked. Hammel yielded three home runs and was gone in the fourth. Nate Freiman, starting at first base, hit a two-run homer but made a run-gifting error. Jonny Gomes, who Moss had said was “going to do far more damage than I would tonight,” damaged the A’s by getting picked off second base.
Before the game, Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez expressed an admiration for the A’s mixing/matching. “I like it,” he said. “A solid platoon is not a bad concept.”
But wouldn’t it be harder to find 12 pretty good players, especially if you’re always relying on other teams to supply them, than to field a standard everyday eight? Would you really want to platoon major talents like Freeman or Simmons or Jason Heyward? (To be fair, Cespedes was an everyday player before being dealt.) Said Gonzalez: “Maybe you’d want seven or six (everyday players), with one or two platoons.”
Said Melvin: “We do it a particular way, and that’s the way we do it. It’d be tougher to do what we do in the National League (because of the need to pinch-hit for the pitcher).”
Said Moss: “It’s hard to construct a roster this way. We’re a very unique team.”
A very good one, too. But the A’s would be tough to imitate, especially if your choices aren’t as limited. Oakland fell into “Moneyball” mode because it had no alternative. The Braves mightn’t always be the savviest shoppers, but the for them option of buying retail does exist. That’s not always a bad thing.
