A MONEYBALL TRADE IN RETROSPECT.
A MONEYBALL TRADE IN RETROSPECT. Michael Lewis is a wonderful storyteller. One of the stories he tells in MONEYBALL is how Billy Beane hornswoggled Kenny Williams of the White Sox into a trade in which Beane got relief pitcher Chad Bradford and the White Sox got catcher Miguel Olivo. Lewis wrote of it as a sabermetrics versus scout trade. Bradford had astounding results in the minors, but had an unusual underhand delivery. Olivo had a throwing arm that would awe any scout. Lewis portrays the trade as a triumph for Beane—the 2010 BASEBALL PROSPECTUS refers to the idea that Williams was “…flayed in a best-seller for getting Miguel Olivo for Chad Bradford…..” I always thought that the trade showed how good both men were at evaluating players who were at a very early stage in their careers. Both Bradford and Olivo have gone on to good careers. I was pleased to see the 2010 BASEBALL PROSPECTUS has a footnote on the trade pointing out that Olivo is “a good bet to match Bradford in career value when all is said and done….—and really, what WAS the fuss about?”
For a book about understanding true value in baseball, going nuts over a relief pitcher seems pretty odd in almost any circumstance.