In a revelation that might have the no-name GM's of the MLS running for cover, Lion In Oil reminds us today that Oakland A's GM Billy Beane is soon going to be trying his hand at running the San Jose Earthquakes while still taking on Oakland A's duties, a ballsy career move if ever there was one. "Billy is going to be deeply involved in soccer for us," said Lew Wolff, managing partner of the A's and now the Earthquakes.
"We're actually looking at some of Billy's concepts on how to evaluate players. We're trying to find out how we can apply some of Billy's thinking."
In the community of veteran baseball executives and scouts, in which Beane is not beloved, this will seem like so much chutzpah: The genius still hasn't won a World Series, "Moneyball" canonized him and now he thinks he can run two teams at the same time.
While Beane is about as much of a celebrity-GM as one can be -- he is both praised and maligned for his imaginative and unconventional approach to his work (just like Paris Hilton!) -- there's little doubting the man's talent. To take a team with such consistently low payroll and have them competing for titles yearly is impressive in and of itself. Applying that approach to the less talent-saturated, even-salaried world of Major League Soccer would not only provide Beane the breathing room he's always desired with the A's, but it would cement his organizational genius for years to come.
If Beane fails, well, there's always the next Scott Hatteberg.
