Billy Beane is one of the best general managers in baseball history and was famously played by Brad Pitt on Hollywood’s silver screen.
But the architect of ‘Moneyball’ believes that he’d struggle to find employment in modern Major League Baseball.
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Billy Beane changed baseball but might get overlooked nowCredit: Getty
In an interview with The Athletic, Beane said that he “wouldn’t be able to apply for a job now because I’m not qualified,” and referenced competition with top companies including Google, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan.
“We all want to run our sports teams like Warren Buffett runs his Berkshire Hathaway,” Beane said.
“It’s not always easy to do that … what separates clubs is their ability to execute and sort of fend off the noise.”
The former first-round draft pick of the New York Mets was a career .219 hitter with three home runs, 29 RBI and a .542 OPS in six pro seasons with the Mets, Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers and Oakland Athletics.
Beane the GM would have released himself as a player.
But once he worked his way up baseball’s front-office pipeline and took over the construction of the A’s roster, MLB was forever changed.
He became so valuable that the Boston Red Sox offered Beane a five-year, $12.5 million offer to become the highest-paid GM in baseball.
Beane passed on the deal, and kept changing the sport.
Oakland redefined the grand-old game by embracing analytics under Beane, and the overall sports world was eventually changed while the A’s GM won MLB Executive of the Year in 2018.
Annual playoff appearances with a minimal payroll and a 20-game winning streak are the highlights of Beane’s time running Oakland.
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Beane made numbers cool in modern sportsCredit: Getty
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Jonah Hill and Brad Pitt helped Beane go Hollywood in ‘Moneyball’Credit: Getty
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Beane turned his struggles as a player into front-office inspiration with the A’sCredit: Getty – Contributor
But his real impact has been the numbers game, which found its way into the NFL, MLB and international football.
“The data’s out there for everyone, information’s out there for everyone,” Beane said.
“Executing on that data is the most important thing. And some teams do it better than others.”
The Premier League‘s Liverpool, Brentford and Brighton were highlighted by Beane, while Manchester United‘s legendary run under Sir Alex Ferguson was used as a perfect example that the power of consistency can trump constant change.
“One reason I think they’re great — whether it be Sir Alex Ferguson, Bill Belichick, Nick Saban in Alabama — is because they ran their club like they’re never going to leave, which is unusual, and the decisions they make are for the future.”
The future eventually took over MLB, with teams including the Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays becoming annual contenders by applying precise math to the diamond.
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Beane, 63, might not be able to crack a baseball front-office roster in 2025.
But he’s more well-rounded than ever.
“Teams will say we need a left back, so you look at the left backs,” he said.
“But maybe the better value is in strengthening a strength.”