Billy Beane is creative in a lot of ways. For the past 18 or so years, Beane’s responsibility has been to make the low-budget A’s relevant in baseball.
Despite the many challenges Oakland faces, Beane’s influence in the front office has remained largely positive. He has had plenty of success stories over the course of his career in the front office, including the trade that sent Rich Harden to the Cubs in 2008.
At the time of that deal, Beane’s trade with the Cubs looked one-sided. The A’s sent Harden and Chad Gaudin to the Cubs for Sean Gallagher, Eric Patterson, Matt Murton and Josh Donaldson.