Billy Beane, A’s ‘ Moneyball’ genius, may depart for Boston venture.
New venture could lure away A’s top executive
Billy Beane, the “Moneyball” mastermind who has guided the A’s for 23 years, might have a foot out the door if a merger between Beane’s new investment venture and Red Sox owner John Henry’s Fenway Sports Group goes through.
Beane, who joined the A’s front office in 1990, declined to comment, but a person familiar with the situation told The Chronicle that Beane is indeed prepared to step away from his job as Oakland’s vice president of baseball operations should the merger happen. The hope is to get a deal completed by the end of the year.
“He’s been with the A’s for 30 years,” the source said. “I think he’d like a new adventure.”
Beane has a tiny minority ownership of the A’s — he sold the bulk of his ownership share several years ago and now holds just a 1% stake, according to numerous sources — but if conflictofinterest issues arise,
he easily could sell his holdings.
More complicated is the fact that Major League Baseball has rules against public ownership, and by merging with Henry’s Fenway Sports Group, RedBall Acquisition Corp. would purchase less than 25% of the company and take it public, according to the Wall Street Journal, which also was first to report that Beane might leave the A’s should the estimated $ 8 billion deal get done. The Fenway Sports Group owns the Red Sox and Premier League champion Liverpool, among other ventures.
Henry tried to hire Beane after the 2002 season, offering him $ 12.5 million to be the highestpaid general manager in the game, but Beane, after initially accepting the position, remained in Oakland, where his teams have made the playoffs 11 times in the past 21 seasons despite typically having among the lowest payrolls in the league. Beane would not have any part of running the Red Sox this time around, sources confirmed, but he would focus on other potential investments, particularly in Europe.
Beane, 58, long has had numerous interests and business concerns outside of baseball, including ownership stakes in English and Dutch soccer teams, and, after a season with no fans in the stands and uncertainty over next year’s potential sales, A’s owner John Fisher is unlikely to raise the payroll much for next season, which could have a major impact on the AL West champion’s ability to repeat. In addition, the front office was unhappy over decisions to furlough many longtime scouts and development personnel during the pandemic, especially because many of those people might not get their jobs back.
Should Beane step away, his longtime secondincommand, David Forst, would become the top baseball executive in the organization.
“David Forst and his group will be just fine without Billy,” the source said. “They’ve been doing this a long time, and they’re good at it.”