Billy Beane

There is no doubt in my mind that Billy Beane is solely a product of his environment. It would be wildly unreasonable to say that the development of moneyball did not stem from his unfortunate experience as an elite MLB prospect. Yes, this system does seem to work to some degree, but the evidence seems to show that such drastic implementation of the system (i.e. the A's) undermines a team's effort to win a championship. The aspect of scouting and drafting certain players based on Billy's theories is something I personally respect and agree with. However, this highly emphasized focus on player development still does not change the fact that big money teams like the Red Sox and Yankees will always be able to make tidal wave counter-moves with trades and acquisitions of big players who have been in the league for a solid number of years. And just by looking at the last 5 years, the A's just simply have not been able to stack up against the big money.