But let’s say I’m wrong about that entire paragraph. Let’s say Billy Beane IS great, and none of what’s gone wrong has been his fault. Things have still gone wrong to the point that the A’s can’t commit to ONE SINGLE PLAYER for any substantial length of time, and they’re going to lock the GM in the for the rest of the decade, when the decade just started?! What good is committing to a GM long term for a ton of money, when you allegedly can’t commit to a single player? Can’t you at least wait those 2 or 3 years to see if this latest attempt at rebuilding (I even resisted using quotes there) worked out THIS time? What good does it do for an organization to lock up its star GM if, for WHATEVER reason, he can’t establish a team that won’t get traded away? And why does it seem so many A’s fans are willing to give a pass Billy Beane such a pass, anyway, when Cincinatti, Tampa Bay, and Milwaukee are basically in the same boat, but have at least manage to build around a few core players? What has anyone seen in the past half decade (or more) from Billy Beane that not only shields him from criticism, but earns hin praise and the longest extension of any GM- other than having been portrayed by Brad Pitt in a movie? Clearly there’s something I don’t understand about this.

I’ll just close by saying that I don’t know what the answers is for the A’s, but it sure isn’t an increasingly embarrassing and totally washed up Manny Ramirez, who isn’t going to help sell any tickets- even for the wrong reasons. And hey, maybe I’m wrong about all this, and all those “dislikes” I’m sure to get will be earned. I guess we’ll find out in 2 or 3 years.

You may be great at what you do in your division but you are mediocre at best, quite easy.

Against the rest of the league who actually try to win you’d be toast…

We all understand the limits in Oakland.

We also understand that TB has the same limits-even worse- and has overcome them to put a winner on the field-just like Oakland used to do.

Oakland isn’t a winner anymore. This year’s team could surprise (it’s Spring Training fever. Everyone is optimistic.) They could also lose 100 games.

Bottom line is: As long as the current Wolff/Fisher ownership group is in place (Angelos West), the GM really doesn’t matter that much. Might as well go with the track record.

You can’t keep that kind of talent pipeline going forever; with a tiny payroll, you have to continue drafting near perfectly to have sustained success. But perhaps they’re ready to go on another run, since they now have a top ten farm system again, and some youth already on the roster.

As fans should be pretty happy he was re-upped.