Oct 26, 2014; San Francisco, CA, USA; A general view during the playing of the national anthem before game five of the 2014 World Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Kansas City Royals at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports
A week or so ago on Twitter, I noticed a particular fan of a certain fan base poking fun at the A’s and saying that their huge payroll couldn’t make it in the playoffs. Obviously this was a misinformed statement, but it got me thinking. What would the San Francisco Giants (6th highest payroll in baseball at roughly $148M) look like if they were put together on the budget of the Oakland Athletics (27th in baseball at roughly $75M)?
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We can attack this question a few different ways. First, let’s just have all of the San Francisco Giants highest paid players on the team and see how far we can get before running out of money. For this, I am using each player’s 2014 salary, and disregarding their injuries. This is the team that the Giants could trot out: Matt Cain ($20.8M), Tim Lincecum ($17M), Hunter Pence ($15.2M), Angel Pagan ($10.25M) and Tim Hudson ($11M). These players combined to make $74.25M in 2014.
Five players. That’s all the Giants would be able to field if they operated on the budget of the A’s. Granted, the San Francisco Giants have gained some popularity with their recent success, and with popularity comes revenue. That’s just how business works.
The other startling conclusion is that of the five players listed, only three of them are active in the World Series (Pagan and Cain are out due to injury), Lincecum has totaled 1 2/3 innings pitched this postseason, and while Hudson is starting game seven on Wednesday, all of the talk surrounding the deciding game is about the quick hook he may receive. In essence, the Giants have the A’s payroll in largely dead money right now.
While trying to construct a team that could be competitive with Giants players, but on the A’s budget, it became clear that the Giants wouldn’t be able to have their starting rotation and fill out a 25-man roster. Sure, Madison Bumgarner and his $3.9 make the cut, but everyone besides Ryan Vogelsong ($5M) makes over $10M.
You get the point. The Giants spend more money, big whoop. Why is this important to A’s fans? Well, the A’s are forced to find new, innovative ways to stay competitive. The three teams below the A’s in payroll (Cubs, Marlins and Astros) didn’t even sniff the playoffs. The Pirates at 26th, and the Royals at 18th are the only two teams aside from Oakland that rank in the bottom half of baseball in payroll, yet still made the postseason in 2014.
How can this be? Well, Billy Beane is a big part of the reason. Yes, he took a huge gamble that had some fans calling for him to be fired, but, without Beane behind the controls, and with ownership unwilling to spend money, the A’s wouldn’t be competitive. Ever. Since Beane took over, the fewest wins Oakland has compiled in a season is 74. In twelve of his sixteen seasons at the helm, the A’s have finished first or second in the division. They finished last once.
This is all without a fancy ballpark. Without a big-name, superstar talent. You want to know why MLB hasn’t allowed the A’s to move to San Jose? If Billy Beane was allowed to play with the money that Brian Sabean and the San Francisco Giants have from their new ballpark, it just wouldn’t be fair to the rest of the league.