…in the offseason the Yankees raided them in free agency to get their best player, Jason Giambi, while the Boston Red Sox stepped in and helped themselves to centerfielder Johnny Damon. It was Oakland’s attempt to replace these players on a shoestring budget, and the innovative methods applied by GM Billy Beane that provided the basis for the movie Moneyball.
The AL West might have the Los Angeles Angels throwing the big money at free agents and they might have a financial power and recent two-time pennant winner in the Texas Rangers. But the division’s reigning champion is the Moneyball Boys. The Oakland A’s have won the AL West in both 2012 and 2013. Is Goliath ready to slay the well-heeled
Oakland A’s outfielder Josh Reddick has been splashed all over the news this weekend, including on the home page at MLB.com, and with good reason. Reddick went on a power binge this weekend in Toronto, homering five times in two games. But the focus on Reddick’s long-overdue home run surge has obscured the fact that the A’s have fallen hard in the AL West and coughed up a six-game lead in two weeks.