Billy is Back!

Oakland Athletics have won 7 straight. They are one of the best teams in the league right now. They are 16-2 in July and the East Coast is finally noticing after they swept a 4 game series against the Yankees - all one run wins, some of them walk-offs. Speaking of walk-offs, thats the specialty of this team. They have so many walk-offs that fans actually expect them to win a game if they enter the 8-Th or 9-Th inning tied or trailing by a couple of runs. They hit timely homeruns, though it's a different guy every time. Yoenis Cespedes and Josh Reddick can hit for power, but the rest of the team actually can't hit to save their lives, unless it's the ninth inning. People were confused about the Cespedes deal at that time, but Billy Beane knew what he was doing. What great pickups both Cespedes and Reddick were. The other A's hitters can't really hit, but they do take a lot of pitches and the A's pitching is phenomenal. In other words, a typical Billy Beane team.

Billy has been off the radar for a few years now. In fact, the movie moneyball did very well, but it came off as being a little untimely for baseball fans because Billy had not done much in years and the A's were pretty bad when the movie came out. They have not done much since going to the ALCS in 2006, towards the end of the big-3 era. Mark Mulder and Tim Hudson were already gone. Barry Zito was still around, but we knew he would be gone soon too. We were hoping there would be a new big-3 in Rich Harden, Joe Blanton and Dan Haren - Haren coming over in the Mulder trade. But then Billy let them all go too. He then went on a rebuilding spree as one rebuilding led to another and thats never a good sign. That only means your first rebuilding (or the second) didn't work. Territorial rights and San Jose became the defining concepts for the A's. The A's attendance and their revenues were falling and the team was spending even less than the original moneyball days. 

Billy almost looked like a sadist as he seemed to trade away anybody the fans liked and developed an attachment too. And last off-season was almost comical as he traded Trevor Cahill, Gio Gonzalez and Andrew Bailey to get even younger and cheaper talent. It's one thing to let expensive stars like Albert Pujols or Roy Halladay walk, but Billy was saying he can't even afford young guys whom the rest of America barely even knew. He was clearly trying to rebuild the big league roster while also stocking his farm system, but these things are always a hit or miss and fans were understandably skeptical. It looked like the A's were just going younger and cheaper hoping to move a decent version of the team to San Jose a few years down the road. But Billy's moves have come to fruition much sooner than expected. These kids, especially the pitchers, are winning and dominating in the bigs while there is more talent hiding in the minors. Some of these rookies got promoted due to injuries and when the injured pitchers come back, Billy is going to be loaded with pitching.

And the great thing about Billy is, he will always go for it in the middle of the season if they have a shot. It's been a while since he rented a Jermaine Dye or a Johnny Damon for the stretch run, but he didn't have a need for it. Now that they are within striking distance, he is working the phones again. He almost got Hanley Ramirez before the Dodgers stole him. It will be interesting to see what he does and which bat he gets and who he trades away. I think he wants to retain the cheap, young talent for a few years but is also interested in winning this year. His street-creed is back and it's great to hear the media singing his praises again. Billy has done a great job this season and his eye for young talent is unparalleled. I expect great things from him both at the trade deadline this year and the next couple of years. It is also a challenging situation this year with the stupid, 1-game, wild-card playoff. But like somebody said, it's better for the weaker teams than a long series - similar to march madness. I think Billy is buying this theory as he is going after it, though he knows this roster is not a legitimate contender.

One of these days, we will see Billy Beane operate with a bigger budget. It will be a fascinating sight.

Double Whammy

All good things in life must come to an end, but I didn't know some bad things begin at the same time. Thats what I call a double whammy. We all knew Steve Nash's time in the desert was winding down. The ownership group pretended like they wanted to extend him, but even as suns fans, we didn't know if we even wanted him to stay with the suns. It was a vexing issue as the cheap suns made sure that Nash won't be able to retire as a sun and a champion. We had to pick one or the other. We wanted Nash back with the suns because we love him. Also, who doesn't want a point guard who can dish out 10.5 assists a game to wannabe NBA starters? God only knows what he would have done last year with real NBA talent around him. 

The other part of me did not want Nash back because the suns ownership didn't deserve him. They have refused to build a talented roster the last couple of years despite several opportunities to do so and why waste more of Nash's time here? He is clearly chasing a championship - the only thing missing from his stellar resume, and the suns are just not in a position to help him with that. Also, even from the team's perspective, given where they have dragged the team to at this juncture, whats the point of having a 38 year old Nash in the roster? They are probably better off going on a full rebuilding mode like they are doing right now. Mediocrity is a bad place for NBA teams. You better be very good or horribly bad - win now or accumulate high draft picks. The suns ownership seemed to be committed to making the team horrible last year and Nash single handedly thwarted their plans with his brilliant play.

It turns out the suns didn't really want to keep Nash anyways. While Toronto offered him 36 million over 3 years, the suns offered him 12 million for 2 years. I thought thats what the suns Gorilla made! It's hard to call a 6 million dollar a year salary an insult, but this one truly was. So it was up to Nash to pick either money and nationalism in Toronto or settle for marginal and imaginary championship hopes in New York. Or thats what we thought until he dropped a bombshell out of nowhere. He decided to go to the lakers. How can that be? How can the sun's most revered star be playing for the lakers of all the teams, a team he himself said would be tough to suit up for. Nash's current stint with the suns was defined by a hot rivalry with the spurs and the mavs at times, but the lakers are the perennial villains. A powerful division rival like no other and Steve Nash ends up there. 

The trade itself is not bad for the suns and I guess thats why they agreed. 2 first and 2 second round picks are decent for an aging star, though the lakers picks are only going to be in the late 20's. Nash's age makes this easier for the suns because they are strengthening the lakers just for 2 or may be 3 years and not for the next 10 years and the suns will be rebuilding for the next couple of years anyways. It gives Nash a legitimate shot at the championship. Good for him, but I am not rooting for the lakers. May be this makes it easier for me to root for the lakers if they do end up meeting the heat in the finals, but I dont know what to do with Nash now. I will definitely be watching the lakers - they just became one of the most entertaining teams in the league. But I can't say I will be rooting for the lakers to win day in and day out. That just goes against my basketball DNA.

It's going to be weird seeing him in a lakers uniform and even weirder to see the suns without Nash. He defined the Phoenix suns for the last 8 years way more than any single player including Charles Barkley did during their time. He controlled the game on the court and was the face of the franchise off it. Something tells me Michael Beasley is not the replacement for Nash that the fans were looking for. Thank god at least Goran Dragic is back! A familiar face and a decent point guard who learned under Nash. I will be watching the suns with a detached attachement next season. I am sure I will come around soon, but it will be strange for the first few weeks. 

On the court, Nash's impact on the lakers will be huge. He will make life easier for everybody around him like he has always done in his career. Gasol and Bynum will be much better on offense. He will even make Kobe better if he lets him. Nash will definitely take some pressure off of Kobe and will help keep him fresh and even possibly help extend his career. Nash is not an asset on defense, but the lakers have 2 seven footers to protect the rim. He does not make them the favorites or put them ahead of the heat or the thunder, but I will pencil in the lakers and the thunder for the western conference finals next may. The NBA regular season is long, but Nash just made sure the other teams in the west don't have much to play for. We might as well start the thunder-lakers series tomorrow.

The shock of seeing Nash in a lakers uniform will take a while to wear off and I will never totally embrace it. I was going to root for him to win a championship if he ended up with the knicks or even the mavs and I was hoping the thunder will come after him for selfish reasons, but he is now with that one team I can't root for. I am not going to wish him good luck, but I will whole heartedly thank him for all those brilliant years with the suns. He will always be a Phoenix sun and one of the best ever.  We are all witnesses to the end of a glorious chapter in Phoenix and the beginning of another inglorious chapter in Los Angeles. They say it will get worse before it gets better. And it just did for us suns fans. Double whammy indeed.