Billy Beane's New Role with the Oakland A's
"Billy Beane will assume a new role as Senior Advisor to the Managing Partner, working closely with John Fisher on strategic decisions." That's how today's press release began.
It also states that "Beane will support the work of baseball operations now headed by General Manager David Forst. He will also provide Fisher with guidance on broader organizational matters. Beane's new role with the A's affords him the opportunity to explore non-baseball sports endeavors."
Beane, 60, and with the A's organization for 33 years, almost left the A's entirely just a couple of years back, and would have if his company RedBall had raised enough funds to secure a stake in Fenway Sports Group, so a news drop like this isn't unsurprising.
What we know is that Billy Beane has a new role, and David Forst will be the head of the baseball operations department. The likely outcome here is that Billy Owens, the Assistant GM, will be promoted as well and be made the General Manager. Owens has been sought after by many teams in the past, and that would be an easy promotion to make to keep the flow of things running smoothly.
The A's could potentially look outside the organization to fill the GM role, with the reigning World Series champions, who just so happen to be in the A's division, just fired their GM James Click.
So that is one question left on the table.
The other question at hand is just what is Billy Beane going to be advising John Fisher on? There are three options for what could be at play here.
The first is that Beane, since he has a small ownership stake, could be part of the group that starts to look at other relocation sites. If the A's were to expand their relocation efforts to other cities, it would make sense to bring along someone like Billy Beane.
The second is that Beane is there to help move the negotiations along with the city of Oakland. He has been a big public figure for a couple of decades now, and having a fresh face in those talks that isn't Dave Kaval or John Fisher could be helpful to getting a deal done.
The third, and honestly the most likely scenario here, is that this is just a paper move and it's a way to keep him affiliated with the A's organization to a much lesser degree.
Beane said that he is "incredibly proud of the 33 years I've spent here in Oakland, and I look forward to continuing with the A's in this new role. I am eager to help guide the direction of the organization alongside ownership. If I have done anything well during my time at the A's it is to create a succession plan, and no one is more prepared to take the helm than David [Forst]. It has been a privilege to work alongside him for all these years and I look forward to continuing to be a resource for him."
For many fans, this change may take some getting used to since Beane has been part of the organization for so long, and arguably the face of the franchise since the early 2000's.
He's had a profound impact on the way the game is played, with his use of sabermetrics being chronicled in "Moneyball," and have led the A's to finding different ways to try and win the final game of the season.