A’s Beane named Executive of the Year
Following an unexpectedly strong season for the Oakland Athletics, Billy Beane captured the inaugural Executive of the Year award handed out by Major League Baseball.
The honour was announced at the general managers meetings Monday in Carlsbad, California. Milwaukee Brewers GM David Stearns and Tampa Bay Rays GM Erik Neander tied for second in the balloting among the 30 teams, which each received one vote.
Beane, the Athletics’ executive vice president of baseball operations, built a team that posted a 97-65 record, the fourth-best mark in the major leagues, despite having the lowest Opening Day payroll of the 30 teams.
After coming in last place in the American League West in 2015, 2016 and 2017, Oakland earned a playoff berth this year but lost 7-2 to the New York Yankees in the AL wild-card game.
Beane’s farm system produced two Gold Glove-winning infielders, Matt Chapman and Matt Olson. Preseason newcomers included outfielders Ramon Laureano and Stephen Piscotty, and the A’s bolstered their pitching staff with the in-season acquisitions of starters Mike Fiers and Edwin Jackson and relievers Jeurys Familia, Fernando Rodney and Shawn Kelley.
Beane is best known as the subject of the book Moneyball that examined his front-office strategy, and he was played by Brad Pitt in the movie version of Moneyball. Prior to the new MLB-issued award, Beane was selected Major League Executive of the Year by Baseball America in 2002 and 2013, and he was chosen Executive of the Year by The Sporting News in 1999 and 2012.
Stearns led the Brewers to the best record in the National League, 96-67, and their first NL Central title in seven years. They reached the playoffs for only the third time since their lone World Series appearance in 1982, losing in the NL Championship Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Neander’s Rays went 90-72 and helped popularise the new pitching trends of “openers” and “bullpenning,” beginning games with a relief pitcher instead of utilising the traditional rotation of starting pitchers expected to work deep into games.