Dutch double play: Beane and soccer club team up

We just couldn’t let this stuff go …

Like Billy Beane, Robert Eenhoorn all about baseball expectations. The Dutchman was a high draft pick who never made it big on the field — losing his job, in fact, to none other than Derek Jeter, writes Ken Maguire of The Associated Press.

And like Beane did with the Oakland Athletics, Eenhoorn (above) oversees a team that does more with less. Despite a small budget, Dutch soccer club AZ Alkmaar has a knack for identifying and developing young talent and then selling them for big profits, all while competing with top teams like Ajax.

The plucky club north of Amsterdam relies on data analytics to outperform its competitors. They must be doing something right because Beane — portrayed by actor Brad Pitt in the 2011 film “Moneyball” — recently purchased a nearly 5 percent ownership stake.

“You have to be willing to think differently,“the 52-year-old Eenhoorn said. “We give our people at least room to be innovative.”

AZ — or “Ah-Zed” to English-speaking Europeans — has been punching above its weight. They had beaten Dutch powerhouse Ajax twice last season but were in second place on goal differential when the season was declared over because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Most clubs use data science these days but rarely do they enlist Beane himself. The A’s executive vice president of baseball operations began advising AZ in 2015, shortly after Eenhoorn took over as CEO.

The partnership took root over breakfast in Arizona the prior year. Eenhoorn, in his role leading the Dutch baseball association, would customarily visit spring training camps. AZ, wanting a successful sports executive from outside soccer, had offered Eenhoorn the job. Beane encouraged him to take it.

“At that time I didn’t know that he was so into football,” Eenhoorn said.

Eenhoorn took the job, took Beane up on his offer to consult, and began relying more on analytics.

It’s allowed them to be competitive with the Dutch big three of Ajax, PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord.

Beane and Eenhoorn communicate frequently.

“Even when I played, I was always very interested in, OK, why do people make certain decisions,“Eenhoorn said. “So, I think we have the same interests and of course I can’t compare my career as an executive with Billy’s career, but I’m a couple of years younger.”