White Cleat Beat
Fansided

Why Billy Beane will never leave the Oakland A’s

By David Hill

Oct 3, 2018; Bronx, NY, USA; Oakland Athletics vice president of baseball operations Billy Beane walks onto the field before the game against the New York Yankees in the 2018 American League wild card playoff baseball game at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 3, 2018; Bronx, NY, USA; Oakland Athletics vice president of baseball operations Billy Beane walks onto the field before the game against the New York Yankees in the 2018 American League wild card playoff baseball game at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

If Billy Beane wanted to leave the Oakland A’s behind, he has had his chances.

The Boston Red Sox desperately wanted him to run their front office. Twice. He was on the Mets’ shortlist of targets to run the front office when Steve Cohen bought the team. But again, he said no. Beane is determined to stay in Oakland for as long as the A’s want him.

Billy Beane has perfect gig with Oakland A’s

Beane is no longer the boy genius from the MoneyBall days. The league has caught up to his strategy of finding players that can get on base, hit home runs, and lack of caring about strikeouts. Now, every team seemingly has several of those players on the roster.

But Beane is still regarded as one of the bright minds in the game. His ability to bring the A’s back to contention after their continued rebuilding cycles has generated plenty of attention and respect. It is also something that works to his advantage.

Beane is in a no-loss situation in Oakland. If the rebuild works out, Beane is hailed as a genius for working around the budgetary guidelines put into place. If it does not, that’s on John Fisher for refusing to spend. He is entirely insulated from any criticism and blame. To make it even better, he is not even the A’s general manager any longer.

Why would Beane want to leave that situation? Sure, he probably wonders what he would have done with a larger budget and ownership that gives a damn. But he is also in a place where he has a job for life and can essentially do whatever he wants so long as the A’s stay within that budget. It is a pretty sweet gig after all.

Next. 3 potential free agents for A's. dark

Billy Beane has the perfect job with the Oakland A’s. Despite any rumors that come up, he has no reason to ever leave the A’s behind.