Billy Beane Hates Me

Not really, but it would appear to be that way as he always seems to trade some of my favorite players right around my birthday every year. This year, he happened to trade my current favorite A's pitcher actually ON my birthday. I happened to be out all day on Friday celebrating my birthday at Disneyland with my wife and daughter when my brother called me to let me know that Haren had been dealt. I immediately scrambled to the cell, calling Nico and baseballgirl to make sure that AN didn't explode on impact. Luckily it didn't.

I'm not going to analyze the deal because it's already been done to death, but I'm really hoping that Beane doesn't stop here. It's important that this not be done halfway. I'm not saying that Beane needs to do it immediately, especially if other GMs are low-balling him on Joe Blanton. Blanton can be a number two starter, especially if a National League team picks him up. Even if Beane has to package Street and Blanton to get the better package, then he should do it.

As for what Beane got in return, Kevin Goldstein goes into detail of the package at Baseball Prospectus. The conclusion is the part I wanted to share more than anything.

Goldstein is very high on both Gonzalez and left-handed pitcher Brett Anderson. He calls Anderson instantly the "best pitching prospect in the system." Gonzalez, in particular, he calls a five-star prospect (five being the best) and the only prospect in the A's system he considers better is Daric Barton.

I do like how the trade shaped up. Six for two is a nice return. And I say that as one of the biggest Haren fans on AN. I'm not terribly excited about watching a team that doesn't have a shot in hell in 2008, but at the same time, the A's needed absolutely everything to break right for them to have a shot in 2008. baseballgirl and I were talking about this one Friday. Did we really want to see Haren lose another 1-0 game? The offense had gotten so abysmal that it needed to essentially be rebuilt from the ground up and the most valuable asset the A's have right now is great, young and cheap starting pitching. That can bring back a killing in return, so I don't blame Beane for jumping on it.

I'm excited about the prospect of seeing players like Buck, Barton, Suzuki and now Gonzalez grow up in green and gold. And I do believe that this will be the last time that we see something like this for the A's for a long time simply because the A's are aiming to build a very good team in anticipation of opening a new stadium in 2011 or 2012. I'm not trying to put a rosy shine on something that really sucks, but as a longtime fan, I am finally hopeful that there is a light at the end of the tunnel of turnover for the A's. I know that Cisco Field is hardly a sure thing at this point, but I am optimistic that the tide is finally going to turn and we're going to see this rebuilding process build towards something more tangible and longer-term. That's what a new stadium will do.

And there is no other GM that I would rather have at the helm managing a rebuilding process than Billy Beane. Even if he ruins my birthday every year.