One of the key moments in the film \u201cMoneyball\u201d comes when Brad Pitt\u2019s Billy Beane and Brent Jennings\u2019 Ron Washington visit Chris Pratt\u2019s Scott Hatteberg to inform him they\u2019re offering him a contract to play first base for the Oakland Athletics, even though he\u2019s only played catcher in his big-league career so far. Beane insists that it\u2019s not that hard. Washington disagrees.<\/p>\n
24 years later, the 73-year-old Washington is the San Francisco Giants\u2019 new infield coach. And he\u2019s got another relative newbie at first base in Rafael Devers, who was enmeshed in a huge first base controversy last season with the Boston Red Sox after they signed third baseman Alex Bregman in free agency, moved Devers to DH, then asked him to play first.<\/p>\n
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But if Hatteberg could develop into a first sacker at age 32 with an elbow injury that hampered his throwing, then Devers, just 29 years old and already familiar with playing infield, should surely develop, right? Here\u2019s the \u201cMoneyball\u201d playbook.<\/p>\n
Get rejected by the Boston Red Sox<\/p>\n
Done and done! Not only did the Sox trade Devers to the Giants in a deal where they seemed most interested in salary relief \u2014 they have only one player left<\/a> from that return left on their roster \u2014 they bad-mouthed Devers<\/a> after the deal, saying he had \u201cnot lived up to his responsibilities\u201d by refusing to switch positions midseason. A team source also lamented what Devers\u2019 actions would do to a club \u201cincreasingly reliant on young, impressionable players.\u201d Won\u2019t someone think of the Red Sox children!<\/p>\n (Note: The Red Sox were \u201cincreasingly reliant\u201d on young players because they didn\u2019t want to pay Mookie Betts or Xander Bogaerts.)<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Find a wife<\/p>\n Hatteberg\u2019s wife, Elizabeth, helped him prepare for his position change by hitting grounders to him off a tee at a tennis court near their home. However, Devers does not have a wife, so he\u2019ll have to get someone else to do it. Is Bob Melvin busy? Does Devers live near a tennis court? If Devers chooses to seek out the wife first, it\u2019s possible that Washington is not the right man to help with his Hinge profile.<\/p>\n Become a pickin\u2019 machine<\/p>\n According to Chapter 8 of \u201cMoneyball,\u201d titled: \u201cScott Hatteberg: Pickin\u2019 Machine,\u201d Washington spent the six weeks of spring training in 2002 encouraging Hatteberg as he learned the new position. Every time Hatteberg dug a throw out of the dirt, Washington would yell, \u201cPickin\u2019 machine!\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Is Devers really going to be worse than some of the Oakland first basemen Washington had to work with before? This is a group that included both Jason and Jeremy Giambi (R.I.P.), Olmedo S\u00e1enz, Matt Stairs, and John Jaha. The bar for becoming una m\u00e1quina recolectora is not too high.<\/p>\n Receive huge from Buster Posey<\/p>\n Obviously, this is the pinnacle of success every San Francisco Giants aims for.<\/p>\n Luis Arraez<\/p>\n Probably would not have been signed by 2002 Billy Beane.<\/p>\n