Cash Crops Part II

3) Oakland Athletics

Clearly the Red Sox have been the best at constructing a championship team with their farm system. However, in the time of Mr. Billy Beane, the most influential figure on the business-side of baseball, it's hard to overlook the Oakland Athletics' Success over the past decade using their farm. Beane created a mainstream statistical system by which to measure baseball players. Although some of the stats he used were made before him, like "On-Base-Percentage", (OBP) he was the guy that first put these once obscure measurements to use. Now General Managers like Theo Epstein (Red Sox), Jim Bowden (Washington Nationals), Mark Shapiro (Cleveland Indians) and J.P. Ricciardi use the system that Beane assembled and are creating similar teams to the early 2000s Oakland Athletics.

Even though the Athletics haven't won a World Series in two decades, Beane's ballclub had a League Division Series streak of four years (2000-2003) and made the AL Championship Series in 2006. The impressive part isn't this team's ability to make the playoffs however. The impressive part is that the Oakland Athletics had between the third and fifth lowest payroll in the MLB during most of this timespan. Even in 2006, when Beane was allowed to open the wallet (a little) the Athletics still sported a payroll that ranked 22nd in the league. Below are the players that--from the 1990s until now--have made the Oakland Athletics the second most successful farm-based franchise.

1. Tim Hudson, SP, Atlanta Braves- Ricky Henderson was probably the best thing to come out of the Oakland System in the last 30 years, however Tim Hudson isn't a too-distant second. In 10 seasons, (6 with the Athletics) Hudson has posted a 3.48 career era, over 2000 innings pitched, 146 wins to just 77 losses, and a 1.25 WHIP. In his 6 seasons with the Athletics, from 1999-2004, Hudson posted an ERA of just over 3.30, 92 wins and pitched 1,240 innings over 183 games started. Hudson wasn't only an ace, but he was Oakland's work horse. Before C.C. Sabathia came Tim Hudson. Now 10 years after coming up with the Athletics, Hudson has the 13th best ERA among active pitchers, has started for the Athletics in the ALDS and ALCS, has made two All Star games and is ranked 9th in shutouts.

2. Miguel Tejada, SS, Houston Astros- Tejada was the emotional leader of the Athletics, along with Eric Chavez, for seven seasons. Between 1997 and 2003, Tejada drove in 604 runs (average over 100 rbi per 600 AB), hit 156 bombs and slugged about .460. In his career, Tejada has now made 5 All Star games, has won 2 silver sluggers, an MVP Award and is 17th among active players in homeruns. Now with the Astros, Tejada's star is finally fading at age 35 (in May). However, during the half of his career that he played in Oakland, Tejada led his team to the playoffs and was their most talented position-player since Rickey Henderson.

3. Eric Chavez, 3B, Oakland Athletics- Eric Chavez is to the Athletics what Mattingly was to the Yankees in the 80s. Drafted by Billy Beane in 1996 out of highschool, it took Chavez less than three seasons to make the MLB roster. Now after 11 seasons, Chavez is still with the Athletics and is poised to make a comeback in 2009 after his shoulder surgery in 2006. Between 2000 and 2006 Chavez hit 199 homers, won 6 Gold Gloves, a Silver Slugger and batted in 660 runs. Throughout his career Chavez has been a rock for the Athletics. Although Scott Rolen is considered one of the best (if not the best) third basemen in the NL in last 20 years, Eric Chavez is very close to first with the same amount of Silver Sluggers (one), only one less Gold Glove (6), and has even averaged 2 more home runs per 162 games (29 vs. Rolen's 27). Only two years older than Chavez, Rolen still leads the two in All Star Appearances (6 to 0), Gold Gloves, homeruns, batting average, on base percentage, and slugging percentage. However, if Chavez can recover in 2009, he'll certainly give Rolen "a run for his money" through the final years of their careers.

4. Jason Giambi, 1B, Oakland Athletics- After an eight-season stint with the Yankees, Giambi returned to the Athletics in 2009. Although steroid allegations have put a dent in Giambi's reputation, it is undeniable that he was still one of the best power-hitters since 1990. In his career Giambi has a .942 OPS, a .408 OBP, 396 home runs and over 1,270 rbi. Yankees fans never truly appreciated what Giambi brought to the team due to the team's overall lack of postseason success in the 2000s. Not counting his two off years, Giambi has hit 183 home runs, average about 100 rbis and an OPS consistently above .900 during his time with the Yankees. His trophy case, although lacking a World Series Ring, includes 5 All-Star games, an MVP award, two Silver Sluggers and the Major League's "Hutch Award going to the league's most productive hitter. Now 38, Giambi is about ready to put his fourteen-year-old career to rest.

5. Barry Zito, LHP, San Francisco Giants- Early in his career, Zito was one of the top five pitchers in baseball and the best in the AL at certain times. Even though Zito is only 30 years old, he was used to the point of complete burn-out by the Oakland Athletics. Now with the Giants, he's not the pitcher he used to be. How can a pitcher be so "done" by age 30? Easy. The Athletics completely relied on the shoulders of three young pitchers-- Tim Hudson, Barry Zito and Mark Mulder-- for most of their playoff run in the early 2000s. For his career, Zito has already pitched only a season short of 2,000 innings (1,807 ip) and has started 287. With the Athletics, between 2000 and 2005, Zito had a 3.53 ERA, won 102 games, pitched 1,430 innings, posted a 1.25 WHIP, made 3 All Star appearances and won the American League's Cy Young Award (2002). Not only are those numbers impressive, but they certainly help explain why I'm rating this team's pitching-development as one of the best in the MLB.

cont'd 4/10/09