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A’s watch from afar as Swisher, Ethier march through playoffs
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In keeping with Yankee tradition, Swisher uses Mike Pagliarulo's old helmet
There’s a rule in Oakland that states: “thou shalt not trade young, cheap talent”.
It’s posted on every wall of the A’s offices, similar to the signs in hospitals instructing doctors to wash their hands.
And yet, on opposite ends of the country, two former Oakland outfielders remain alive in the postseason, living examples of what happens when the A’s break their golden rule.
The Los Angeles Dodgers’ Andre Ethier and the New York Yankees’ Nick Swisher (how weird does that sound?) have helped their teams reach the League Championship Series, thanks to stellar regular season performances that continue to haunt Billy Beane.
Each player hit at least 29 home runs and drove in 80 or more runs, and both posted an OPS over .860. And what really has to drive Beane crazy is that Ethier drew 72 walks, while Swisher earned 97 free passes.
Hindsight may be 20/20, but it’s no surprise to Oakland that these two have developed into premier players.
Swisher was a first-round pick in 2004, and Ethier a second-round pick in 2003. They proved themselves in both college and the minors, and Swisher had three full years of major league experience by the time he departed.
Swisher and Ethier represent the type of versatile, power-hitting corner outfielders Oakland desperately needs. So why were they traded?
Ethier was dealt prior to the 2006 season, sent to L.A. in exchange for Milton Bradley. Bradley helped Oakland reach the ALCS, but his inevitable blow-up shortly thereafter crippled the A’s ability to get much in return for him.
That’s left Oakland with nothing to show for Ethier, whose 2006 production was reasonable enough that the A’s might have made the playoffs without ever trading for Bradley.
Swisher yielded three prospects from the White Sox in early 2008, none of whom has panned out as Oakland hoped. Gio Gonzalez is a seven-run inning waiting to happen, Fautino De Los Santos underwent Tommy John in his first season with the A’s organization, and Sweeney has shown promise but very little power.
What makes Swisher’s trade even more painful is that it came out of the blue, even for an A’s fanbase accustomed to premature player departures.
Given his team-friendly contract, clubhouse popularity, positional versatility, high walk totals, and respectable power numbers, Swisher justified every ounce of man-crush Beane bestowed upon him in “Moneyball”.
The A’s wouldn’t have been a playoff team in 2009 even with Swisher and Ethier, but they would have allowed Oakland to gear up for a serious run at a 2010 postseason berth.
Keeping their pair of young outfielders also could have helped the A’s avoid gambling on veterans Jason Giambi, Matt Holliday, Nomar Garciaparra, and Orlando Cabrera this season, for nearly one-third the cost.
Holliday and Giambi, in particular, were supposed to have the kind of seasons Ethier and Swisher actually produced, which makes their collective absence even tougher to swallow.
The pair may linger over the A’s for some time, as a quick glance at Oakland’s organizational depth chart reveals a worrisome lack of pop in the outfield. Sweeney looks powerful but hits like David Eckstein, Aaron Cunningham is currently modeling for milk cartons, and Travis Buck has apparently signed a lifetime contract with the Sacramento River Cats.
And let’s not even mention Carlos Gonzalez.
The only true power threats in Oakland’s system are Jack Cust (who may or may not be around next season) and Chris Carter (who Oakland may move to a corner outfield spot simply for lack of an alternative).
The A’s have been hampered in recent years by a dried-up farm system, and their recent veteran-heavy focus flies directly in the face of Beane’s most basic principal: namely, that cheap young talent is the most valuable thing in baseball.
The worst part for Oakland is that the teams reaping the benefits of that cheap young talent play in the two biggest markets in the country.
In today’s baseball economy, the kind of players the A’s are desperate for are being swallowed up by teams who don’t even need them.
The Yankees and Dodgers each have payrolls the A’s couldn’t match if they robbed a bank, and they don't have to rely on their farm systems the way Oakland does.
New York and Los Angeles operate on budgets which include players like A-Rod and Manny, and the fact that they’re now smart enough to grab players like Ethier and Swisher is a frightening thought for small-market clubs.
The rich are not only getting richer, they’re also getting smarter.
And since the A’s aren’t getting significantly wealthier themselves, their climb back to contention only grows steeper.
The Oakland Sports Examiner.
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