A conversation with Billy Beane

PHOENIX — A few days ago, I gave you Brian Sabean speaking about the state of the Giants. I let Sabean speak for himself. Today I’m giving you Billy Beane on the state of the A’s. I let Beane speak for himself.

I hope you feel I asked the right questions and I’m sure you’ll agree Beane was candid and enlightening.

Here goes:

Cohn: Why is your team going to be better this year?

Beane: We should be better offensively. I think we’ve made some improvements, badly needed improvements. The challenge for us is really bridging the gap between our young pitchers and when they’re good major-league pitchers. We’re not unaware of that. So we may be in a position where we push them a little earlier than we want with the idea that they’ll get better over the course of the year and they’ll have plenty of run support, hopefully.

Cohn: What will your team do well this year?

Beane: We should be a good defensive team. There are a few spots where guys aren’t necessarily known for their defense. If you assume (Eric) Chavez and (Orlando) Cabrera and (Matt) Holliday and (Ryan) Sweeney and (Kurt) Suzuki and Ellie (Mark Ellis) obviously, by and large, it’s a real good defensive team. Jack (Cust) will be playing some outfield and while he’s improved I don’t think people see him as being a great defensive player. But overall I think we’ll be a decent defensive team.

Cohn: I get e-mails where you’re called into question, people asking where’s the starting rotation.

Beane: No. 1, we’re trying to do two things at once. We’re trying to improve our club. We’re also trying to create a club organically that will last for a number of years. We probably could have traded (Brett) Anderson and (Trevor) Cahill and gotten a guy to give us a decent year at a lot of money but I’m not sure that would have been a great idea. (Beane laughs.) So we’re trying sort of to balance improving the club — because we have a responsibility on a year in and year out basis to put as good a product as we can on the field — but we really are trying to develop something long term.

So there are going to be areas where you’re short. Admittedly, the starting pitching is an area that’s probably going to take some time to develop. It’s also the most inefficient use of funds for a small-market team to go out and sign a 30-plus-year-old for the cost of a starting pitcher.

It’s not a good investment of funds. It’s risky and quite frankly you don’t get your bang for the buck. It’s a fair point and one we’re not unaware of. I don’t know we’re in a position to completely address it and make everybody happy. It’s a contradiction. We’re concerned about our pitching but we also have the best young pitching probably in the game coming up through our system. Trying to bridge that and when it gets here and when it’s going to be effective is probably going to determine how this season turns out. I think for the long term we’re in great shape.

Cohn: Do you see this season as rebuilding, trying to contend or both?

Beane: The macro is rebuilding. But listen, if there’s an opportunity out there, we’re going to try and take it. If we were actually trying to win everything this year, we would trade, as I say, that list of players. We’re trying for the best product we can – case in point signing guys like (Jason) Giambi and having guys like Matt Holliday who’s in the last year of his contract — with bringing in young pitchers and creating a foundation of young players that will last a long time. We’re trying to balance things.

The general nature of people who follow sports and run sports teams is that patience isn’t necessarily part of the equation. We have to keep in mind there are really no shortcuts in any type of business or any type of sport. We’re thinking with the acquisition of some of these players that, in turn, will help the young pitching. We certainly wouldn’t want to throw these guys out there with the offense we had last year.

Cohn: I spoke to Eric Chavez the other day. He was heartbreakingly candid.

Beane: He can do that.

Cohn: What I got from him is — I’m paraphrasing — ‘I’ll do everything I can. I want this to work out. I know as little about me as you do right now.’ Does that seem a fair representation of Chavez?

Beane: It’s been a frustrating couple of years for Eric. He’s had multiple surgeries the last two years. As of this morning (Wednesday) he’s really upbeat. His body is responding. He played defense yesterday and he’s hitting today. Any time he has a setback it’s harder to accept, especially since he started the surgery process way back in August with the idea he’d have plenty of time.

Any setback he’s had right now isn’t necessarily a function of being injured; it’s a function of not being ready and still recovering and gaining strength. The good thing — he said this to me two days ago — he said his back felt fantastic. You always worry about that when anyone has back surgery.

Cohn: Will he start the season on the team?

Beane: I don’t know if I can answer that yet. I’m not being coy. Even a day off certainly puts that in jeopardy. We’re not necessarily using the first game as hey we’ve got to get this guy back. It would be nice from a psychological standpoint. Eric would like that. We’d like that.

But we’ve been through this long enough to say whether Eric is ready on the first day of the season or the sixth. Let’s not try and make sort of statements just to put him on the opening-day roster. It’s not out of the question. It’s definitely uncertain. If not opening day, a very realistic hope is it will be soon thereafter.

Cohn: When you rest him, will Nomar Garciaparra play third?

Beane: The idea when Nomar came in is that he would spell Eric over there. And he’d play some first. You know Nomar is going to need some rest, too. If (manager) Bob (Geren) had to make a lineup today, my guess is more than likely Nomar would start at third until Eric is ready. Hopefully there’s a balance and we can rest Eric, particularly against certain left-handers and give him scheduled days off, and Nomar can play there, and make sure both are getting plenty of work but also plenty of rest.

OK, that was Beane on his team. One final note. He seemed at peace with the state of his team. He’s rebuilding but the team is improved and almost surely will be a contender in the American League West. You should know that.

For more on the world of sports in general and the Bay Area in particular go to the Cohn Zohn at blog.pressdemocrat.com/cohn.

You can reach Staff Columnist Lowell Cohn at 521-5486 or lowell.cohn@pressdemocrat.com.