Billy Beane Quotes (48 Quotes)


    Even at this time his career, people stop to watch him come to the plate. I know I have.

    Almost like a car salesman, if a guy walks onto the lot and a salesman qualifies him on how he is dressed he may miss out on a hell of a sale, we try to open our mind and say it's not about perception or what you think you see,

    Frank was pretty direct that this is where he wanted to go. He wanted to be in the right situation with the right club, so it wasn't really that difficult putting a deal together.

    This guy's skill level and ability is undeniable. Frank Thomas is a presence.

    The goal, ... is competitive balance. If there is more competitive balance over the course of this year, I think that will signal that it's a step in the right direction. I'm confident that it will be.


    He underwent a number of stress tests, very strenuous, and Frank felt great. He has a very good chance of being ready in April. He believes he'll be ready in Spring Training, we're just taking a conservative approach mentally.

    My guess is if you talk to Frank, he'll probably want to be playing in 'B' games the first week of March. But we want to get as much out of the him in the regular season as we can, so we are going to be conservative.

    Gosh, he's been a part of every major decision we've made since he came over here (in 2001). The better question is, what hasn't he done

    Paul has seen the ups and down of developing young players and trusting the three, four years they've had in the minor leagues and discounting their first few months in the majors. Developing young players can be a lot of fun, but you've got to have the d

    Having too many players that deserve to play is not a bad problem to have. We've certainly been on the other side of it. We've never been a club that's had a tremendous amount of depth. (Trading a player) is not something that's on our list to do.

    We're looking for a really solid year out of Esteban. It doesn't have to be his best year as long as it's not his worst. Somewhere in the middle, we'll be happy.

    We had a little bit of a logjam (on a one-year deal), and this was a creative way to bring it to a conclusion. We didn't want it to drag on.

    Serendipity. Danny just does everything well. Over time, he's going to impress you.

    Both (Williams and Thomas) are highly competitive, highly successful people. It's temporary noise.

    It was Ken, ... He called. I think it was probably not an easy phone call for him to make.

    I had a nice little conversation with him. He seems happy to be here, quick to smile.

    I'm sure we'll have some sort of conversation. That's going to be a challenge, even if we start negotiations. He's a talented guy who is going to command a lot.

    He is one of the greatest offensive players of his generation. He is nirvana for us as far as what we look for in an offensive player.

    It's surreal not having him here. I miss the person as much as the voice.

    It would be malpractice not to do research. Of course, it would also be malpractice to make a foolish trade.

    It all started with that call. I think it took a lot for him to pick up that phone. It was probably not an easy call for him to make.

    When Frank is healthy, he is a huge right-handed presence. And that's been a big issue for us the last couple of years.

    There was a real sense of determination in talking to him. You could get carried away with superlatives with Frank Thomas. Arguably, he is one of the greatest offensive players of his generation.

    We offered a three-year deal with a club option and they countered with a three-year deal without a club option. I don't think we were ever going to be able to bridge the gap. It was a significant gap.

    For us, it was an opportunity to add a player without subtracting a player. Our history here, usually we're trading a player to acquire a player.

    Essentially this has been a business that's been around for over a hundred years and it really hasn't changed much so any time someone's doing something differently, its probably going to create some friction.

    Who knows how the rest of baseball views you ... I can go home and sleep and know that we used tremendous character to get through this season.

    This is a guy whose skill level and his presence in a lineup is undeniable. Even last year, if you look at the impact he had in the brief time he played, his skills are still there. Frank Thomas is a presence.

    There are very few winters we're going to go, 'Hey, we're set' a day after the season. That being said, this is not going to be nearly as traumatic and exciting as it was last winter.

    When it comes to working, Matt can be a little nutty. We wanted to make sure he realized work is secondary. Obviously, he's here because he's a very good employee, but our interest in him is as a person, first. There are far more important things in life than your job.

    (Macha) did a fine job. We obviously had significant player turnover and injuries. The end result was good. It was great to see the young guys make the progress they did.

    A's G.M. Billy Beane is suitably impressed by Mariners phenom Felix Hernandez. There aren't too many 19-year-olds with those kinds of weapons, that kind of command, that kind of velocity, ... He's going to be a dominant guy in this league for a long time.

    It's not always possible in our situation to get your perfect guy. As always we're going to make any improvements we can, whatever it is. If Sandy Koufax wanted to come to pitch for us, I don't think I'd say, 'No Sandy, we need a right-handed bat, you'll have to come back later.' It's just the nature of our situation.

    It's something we didn't know about, but he came forward with the information, so I commend him for that.


    I hope not. There will be very few winters we say, 'We're set.' There's always decisions to make. That said, it probably won't be as dramatic as last off-season.

    If there is any player who you couldn't be happier for signing a guaranteed multiyear contract, it's Mark Ellis, particularly because of what he went through.

    Frank believes he'll be ready in spring training. There was a real sense of determination in talking to him.

    Some teams can absorb another guy's contract to get a great player, and we can't do that. It's a huge advantage when you can do stuff like that. Every year I'm asked if we're buyers or sellers, and every year we're both. Just once, it would be nice to buy without selling.

    It's best to part ways at this point, ... We were never going to be able to bridge the gap.

    There are no hard feelings whatsoever. This is part of the business.

    It's a necessity. We've got to get it done. It's not something that's going to solve itself.

    Lenny was so perfectly designed, emotionally, to play the game of baseball. He was able to instantly forget any failure and draw strength from every success. He had no concept of failure. And he had no idea of where he was.

    We're fine with Joe as the only lefty down there. He was a very good reliever for us before Rich got hurt, and I expect him to be a very good reliever for us again. He has all the tools for success.

    It was an emotional time for the family, a life decision for them. The fact that we didn't agree right away wasn't unusual, given the magnitude of the decision.

    At this point, both sides have agreed to pursue other options. We were just too far apart. I don't think we were ever going to be able to bridge the gap. ... When you're so far apart, there's no sense going through the exercise.

    This is the first time since I've been here that we haven't spent the off-season replacing what we've lost. We felt like we were very competitive last year. . . . In particular, when we were healthy, it was a very, very good team. So the idea that we were adding to this group . . . it's a first for us since I've been here as the general manager.

    Do I wish everybody in baseball had the same amount to spend Absolutely. At some point, the disadvantage of being a small-market team is that the inefficiencies will be weeded out. Having less than your competitor is never an advantage.


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