http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/askba/265412.html

The M’s and Bavasi cant tear down and rebuild because of these factors. There are too many casual fans that would be turned off by a perennially bad team (1 year of respectability in 4 just to turn around and rebuild again would give the M’s that label).

I hate to point this out, but that’s the M’s, and the M’s didn’t suffer that massively in terms of fan turnout: they essentially went through the Indians rebuilding cycle except they spent massively more money and aren’t as well set up for the next couple of years.

The M’s fan base has proven unexpectedly tolerant of failure.

and no, this comment does not contibute substantially to the discussion

Billy Beane is an asset to the A’s, but he does not trump the financial and player development advantage the M’s currently hold.

With Armstrong and Lincoln, he does.

Payroll has nothing to do with anything. Good players and highly paid players are not the same thing. Also, the A’s future has a significant advantage because Billy Beane is a brilliant GM.

1. He is part owner. It would certainly be odd to fire yourself for doing a bad job (example: Isiah Thomas, Knicks. While not owner he is President, GM, and Coach and good friends with the owner)

2. He has a long track record of success. Only 2 losing seasons in 10 (Beane’s first season in Oakland and an injury plagued year last year) is a very good trend. This gives the owners confidence in Beane to make the right moves.

3. The A’s have a dim future. With a mediocre team and little help in the minors it would take a miracle for this team to become a quality team through the farm in the forseeable future. The A’s also have a limited budget which hinders their efforts to sign free agents and retain their own players.

4. There are few fans to piss off. The A’s dont have to be overly concerned about negative reaction of their fans bacause there arent many of them to begin with. Its not like they were playing in front of sell out crowds for the past few years.

The M’s and Bavasi cant tear down and rebuild because of these factors. There are too many casual fans that would be turned off by a perennially bad team (1 year of respectability in 4 just to turn around and rebuild again would give the M’s that label).

Bavasi doesnt have the same success as Beane has had. While Bavasi has improved the farm system and the W/L record, that should not allow him to rest. Unfortunately that mentality has also lead to him making poor decisions in the FA market looking for quick fixes.

The M’s future is not as bad as the A’s. Many of you may not agree with this statement. The M’s have more talent throughout the system than the A’s and have a higher payroll with a strong fan base to add more revenue. They dont feel the need to make that drastic of a move, however misguided the M’s front office thinking is.

In 2010 the M’s will have only 4 players signed to a contact (Ichiro, Betancourt, Lopez, Silva) with an option on Putz. Thats pretty good. The reality is that the M’s are almost there.

I’d just like to say that those comments are amazing. Every single one of those players buys into the Beane philosophy so much that they’re not insulted when Beane says the team has “no chance to contend”, and they’re incredibly understanding of the needs of the team over their own.

That’s just astounding to me. No negativity, just business. Maybe I’m jaded over superstars calling out team ownership as being symbolic of “leadership material”, but I just can’t help but think that Beane has done an excellent job making sure the organization knows the ropes.