Alderson returns to A’s

Sandy Alderson is returning to where it all began.

On the heels of announcing he has been cancer free for four months, the former A’s general manager was hired by the team as Senior Advisor to Baseball Operations.

A’s exec Billy Beane, who got his start in management from Alderson and succeeded him as GM in 1998, said he was “excited to bring him back to Oakland.”

“His mentorship and friendship have been invaluable to me over the course of my career, and I look forward to the expertise and perspective he will add at every level of the organization,” Beane said in a statement released by the team.

Alderson’s MLB career began with the A’s in 1981 when he joined the club as general counsel. He was GM from 1983-97, assembling via trades and free agency the roster that Tony La Russa managed to three consecutive World Series appearances in 1988-90.

In addition to building the A’s last World Series championship team, Alderson’s last time in Oakland should also be remembered for something that had a real Hollywood ending. Although Beane is widely credited with starting the A’s “Moneyball” movement, it’s actually Alderson who first championed using statistical analysis to exploit market inefficiencies.

Alderson went against baseball’s traditional measuring sticks of batting average, home runs and RBIS and believed strongly one of the best ways to measure a hitter’s worth was by using on-base percentage.

Alderson, 71, spent the previous eight seasons as general manager of the New York Mets, who compiled a 628-668 record under his watch. He stepped down in June, citing a recurrence of the cancer that was first diagnosed in 2015.

“I am really excited to return to the A’s and the Bay Area,” Alderson said. “I look forward to being as helpful as I can to Billy, David, and the rest of the Baseball Operations staff.”