Thursday, January 3, 2008

More Wheeling & Dealing: Nick Swisher to the White Sox

Well, it looks like the Oakland A's are stripping down, rebuilding and starting over.

The A's traded their ace Dan Haren to the D-Backs, and now slugger Nick Swisher is on the move to the Windy City.

From Yahoo Sports: Six weeks before spring training opens, the general manager has changed his stance and is beginning a rebuilding project in Oakland.

The Athletics made their second major trade in three weeks, sending outfielder and fan favorite Nick Swisher to the Chicago White Sox for three minor leaguers on Thursday.

The A's -- who dealt ace Dan Haren to Arizona on Dec. 14 -- received left-hander Gio Gonzalez and right-hander Fautino De Los Santos, along with outfielder Ryan Sweeney.

By trading their best hitter and best pitcher for nine prospects, Beane and assistant GM David Forst have replenished a farm system that had grown thin in recent years.


While some may find what the A's to be doing a little crazy, Beane and his company have had nothing but success in finding value for their players and using them as commodities to strengthen the organization.

Though Swisher will be missed in Oakland, there's a method to the madness.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

But the Moneyball system failed, didn;t Anthony? Should'nt Beane be taking more heat for his 2002 philosophy that resulted in one of the most popular baseball books of all-time.

Unknown said...

Well, I would not say it failed (ok, in theory it did) for the results he expected, he's gnever gotten his team into a World Series at all), but his plan had made the A's competitive for a few seasons.

Beane is running Oakland like a speculator would run the stock market. He looks like a genius when he strikes gold, but when he doesn't, he's no better than any other GM who decides to take a risk.

You know I am old school -- there's a lot more tangibles to a player besides OPS, OBP, BA, etc...

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