In sports as in politics, spenders win. But not every time.
In sports, as in politics, spenders win.
But not every time. The Oakland A's, with the second-lowest payroll in Major League Baseball, just played their way into the playoffs. So they had a better year than the Philadelphia Phillies, third in their division, out of the playoffs, second-highest payroll in the MLB. Better than the Los Angeles Angels, third in their division, out of the playoffs, fourth-highest payroll in the MLB.
People are saying this team is more "Moneyball" than "Moneyball"—referring to the book/Brad Pitt flick about general manager Billy Beane using his superpower (spreadsheets) to pick up productive players on the cheap:
[A] team with the lowest payroll defeated a team that has represented the American League in the World Series over the last two seasons and a team that spent over a quarter of a billion dollars in free agency this winter. In fact, Albert Pujols’ salary covers the A’s payroll from the last four seasons.
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In the original "Moneyball Year," 2002, the A's were the third-lowest spenders in the league, spending $41 million or so on their payroll. The biggest spenders that year were the New York Yankees, at $125 million. The A's won their division. This year, the A's spent about $55 million. The Yankees? About $198 million. Phillies? $175 million. The Texas Rangers, division rivals defeated by the A's this week? $121 million.
Even more incredibly, last year, the A's spent around $67 million and finished far worse—third in the division with 74 wins, which is 20 fewer than they've got this year, with a handful left to play.
So again this year, the A's spent their money wisely and the team played well and they clinched the American League West title, as a friend posted on Facebook, on a BART $2 Wednesday—Bay Area Rapid Transit's title-sponsor deal offering tickets to A's games on Wednesdays for just two of your wrinkliest dollars.
So yes, that's an affordable sporting event co-sponsored by public transportation. Are the Oakland A's the unofficial team of GOOD yet?
People always say things like "So-and-so is the New York Yankees of so-and-so" to mean that somebody's dominant—or that they spend a lot and buy up players, resources, whatever.
Can we start calling people the Oakland A's of things? I know a couple that is the Oakland A's of getting apartments—spend little on fantastic places. Totally awesome.
Hey, who wants to watch "Moneyball" with me this weekend?
Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
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