[新聞] A's stadium uncertainty could push Billy Beane out
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/08/25/SPQQ1KRV9N.DTL
A's stadium uncertainty could push Billy Beane out
John Shea
Lew Wolff was on the phone with his eyes glued to a television set. He was
watching his A's pursue a three-game sweep of the Yankees, beating the Bronx
Bombers at their own game.
Home run after home run after home run.
"Now (Cliff) Pennington's hit one. This is fun," Wolff said in a giddy
third-inning tone Thursday. Eventually, reality hit, and the A's turned a
7-1 advantage into a 22-9 loss and were denied their first sweep at Yankee
Stadium (new or old) since 2006, Wolff's second year as managing general
partner.
The Yankees are making their annual drive to the postseason, challenging
Boston for first place in the American League East. Most likely, the loser
gets the wild card. The stakes are high, and the future encompasses a
World Series-or-bust mentality that accompanies the team with by far the
biggest payroll.
It's three times the size of Oakland's, as Wolff mentioned in the phone
call.
The A's have a different future. No October baseball. No guarantee that
any of the free agents to be - many of whom have contributed to the team's
winning record since the All-Star break - will return. No plans for a
photo-op display of sinking ceremonial shovels into San Jose or Oakland
soil.
It explains the speculation around baseball, as reported in Thursday's
Sporting Green by Susan Slusser, that A's general manager Billy Beane might
go elsewhere. With nothing to report 29 months after Commissioner Bud Selig
appointed his three-man committee to analyze the A's stadium options, there's
no reason to believe Beane isn't getting antsy as the face of a franchise
stuck in neutral.
If not reverse.
The Cubs' GM job is open with Jim Hendry's firing, and The Chronicle report
suggested Beane might consider an offer if the Cubs called. His A's contract
runs through 2014, but Wolff said Thursday he wouldn't stand in the way if
Beane desires another challenge in another market.
A job could open elsewhere. If the Dodgers' Ned Colletti or Yankees' Brian
Cashman takes over the Cubs, a gig would be available in Los Angeles or New
York.
"I would never inhibit anybody from bettering themselves because of a
contract," said Wolff, who had lunch with Beane on Wednesday and said no
team has called regarding his GM. "Billy is fantastic and, to me,
indispensable. My hope is he will be here a long time. I did promise Billy
and all the guys we would have a venue so they would be able to further
execute their abilities, and I think that will happen."
Sounds optimistic.
"I have to be," Wolff said. "There is no choice for us, for the good of
baseball. It's sad it's taking this long."
He added, "I'm going to build a new stadium for the A's, and if I'm not,
someone will," but he was quick to point out he didn't mean he'd move the
club or sell to out-of-town interests, instead mentioning his son, Keith
(vice president of venue development) as a possible baton receiver. "We're
working every day. If it doesn't happen, we'll go to Plan B, which I don't
have."
Wolff cited Brandon Allen (from Arizona) and Scott Sizemore (from Detroit)
as in-season acquisitions that "take a little more thought" by a GM who's
restricted financially, which Beane is in Oakland and wouldn't be in Chicago,
New York or Los Angeles.
Beane made a legendary comment after the A's lost to Boston in the 2003
Division Series - "Give me $50 million" for a promise of more postseason
success. He'd get that extra $50 million with the Cubs and a chance to bring
Chicago's North Side a championship after 103 years without one, which would
crown him Emperor of the Midwest.
Instead of Marco Scutaro, he'd be wooing Albert Pujols, a bit more fruitful
asset. But Beane paraded down this road before, accepting and then rejecting
a five-year contract to run the Red Sox. He liked the challenge (and freedom
to wear flip-flops) in Oakland as well as the creativity required to equip
David (not Forst) against Goliath.
But a guy can maintain passion only so long when the leaders of his industry
think so unfavorably of his franchise that they ask it to sit tight for 29
months on an issue that should be front and center.
Whether he'd want to leave, apparently, is Beane's choice. If he's free to
go, as Wolff suggests, he could zoom to the top of a team's wish list. His
reputation remains solid despite no winning records in five years. Not many
other GMs have Brad Pitt playing them in upcoming movies.
"Billy and his people have done everything I asked for and more, and I want
to give them everything they've asked for," said Wolff, referring to a new
ballpark. "This year, we lost four starting pitchers in less than three
weeks and two for the season, and that's hard for any team to compete with.
The hitting Billy brought in is now there. We've got better balance."
Unfortunately for the A's, time has run out.
Has it also run out on Beane?
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