Moneyball Billy Beane still at it

If you love America’s Pastime, you’ve surely seen Moneyball, the 2011 movie starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill. The movie is based on the true story of how the general manager of the Oakland A’s found a way to be competitive with the smallest budget in major league baseball.

Now, as as radio’s Paul Harvey always said, is the rest of the story. Billy Beane, vice president and general manager of the A’s, is still doing it. Oakland was written off at the beginning of the season as having no chance to make the playoffs. The A’s were projected to win about 70 games.

As we near the All-Star break, Billy’s team is 51-40, just six games out for the second wild card berth. Most everyone (including me) can say they’re surprised. But how does this great baseball story connect to fantasy baseball? Consider the case of Blake Treinen, a 30-year relief pitcher.

Treinen is the A’s closer, and he has a record of 5-1, with 23 saves (seventh best in the majors). His ERA is 0.79, and his WHIP is 0.92. The best thing about Treinen, from my perspective, is that he’s on my Team Revenant, my fantasy baseball team. He was one of many that I picked up off the waiver wire.