[EDITOR'S NOTE] This is an excellent update from AN reader bigthree17. I want to thank bigthree17 for this report, and that this reminds me that it's probably time for me to check back in with Mr. Lewis on Underdogs. - Blez

Today I got to meet and spend some time with Michael Lewis.  He was the keynote speaker at a seminar my old law firm organized and invited me to.  I sat with him at lunch, and then hung out with him after the seminar for about an hour.  He is a great guy.

Keep in mind that there were 5-6 of us at the table with him, so I wasn't able to ask every question I wanted, and those I did were often cut off by other people. Anyway, here are a few highlights from our conversation:

• Michael has become great friends with Billy since the book was published; not as much during the writing of it. They speak on an almost daily basis now.
• The sale is pretty much a done deal. Billy is currently negotiating with the new ownership group to stay. Among his chief concerns is that he wants complete autonomy of baseball decisions; this is more important to him than the money. Michael believes the new ownership group will do what it has to to keep Billy.
• Now that most teams have caught onto OPS, a lot of people think defense is the next stage of "Moneyball". That's only part of it: the A's and Red Sox, for example, have already developed their theories about defense. They've already moved on and are now analyzing inefficiencies elsewhere.
• Chavez was signed long-term because he showed constant and continued improvement, and the A's were able to buy out his prime years at a discount, because his defense was still undervalued.  They weren't as sure about Miggy, for several reasons.  
• He loves the trades Billy made this summer. When I asked him if he thought it would have been a better route to trade some of our prospects over the last couple of years for established players (with other teams paying the freight) to make a real run with the Big Three, and then either take the picks when those guys become free agents or trade them in their walk years, he said no. The reason being is that wins are the most important thing for the health of the franchise, and this franchise could not afford to deal with the 3-4 years of rebuilding that would have necessitated.
• Daric Barton is viewed as the prime piece in the deals.
• The A's actually used to purposely use their 2nd or 3rd best reliever as the closer, let him rack up a ton of saves, raise his market value, then deal him because "saves" were so overvalued.  I'm sure this is what they hoped to do with Rhodes, but he couldn't hold up his end of the bargain.
• The average casual fan that visits certain blog fan sites with even a modicum of intelligence has a better grasp of statistical analysis than most sportswriters.  This goes along with what Billy said in the interview Blez just posted.
• There was a lot of other stuff we talked about, I just can't remember it all. Frankly, I wish I could be more specific and tell you more, but there was a lot we discussed that I probably shouldn't repeat.

Anyway, it's nothing compared to Blez' interview, but just thought I'd share with you guys.