Actually, Billy Beane does know that you need at least one stud in the lineup... that's why he chose sign Eric Chavez to a huge deal (who's put up similiar numbers to Lance... and he's also been injured). You also need one stud pitcher... and frankly, with the number one liability for a high paid pitcher being injuries... he chose to keep the one that has never missed any time (Zito).
Right now? No more than $12-13m per season. Just can't commit more than that to a question mark, and even then I'd be queasy about the deal without more medical info.
Beane chose to keep a guy at a position that's typically hard to fill, 3B. He'd tell you that finding a serviceable bat at 1B/RF is a lot easier than it is to find one at 3B. One reason he let Giambi go (although he offered Giambi alot of money to stay, and got lucky that it was turned down). Lance is a better hitter than Chavez, though. And the 1 star in the lineup deal doesn't make sense baseball wise, but I can see the argument for it from a marketing standpoint. It's hard to market around Ensberg and Lane, and Bags/Big will be gone in a couple of years.
True, but then you have to wonder why he chose Chavez over Tejada (who plays a position that's even harder to fill... a great hitting, great defending shortstop). Its probably because Chavez was the guy "most likely to re-sign" anyways. Beane new he had to keep one of them, or risk completley writing off their fan base. He's kept Chavez and Zito... and competely re-made their rotation and bullpen with some great young prospects. Houston will be similiar with just Berkman and Oswalt and a bunch of other young guys... but they'll have a bigger payroll, giving them the flexibility to still go after some FA's in the upcoming years, as well as mid-season trades.
On one hand I think that if we have any issues with paying him a boatload of money (healthy or not) that we need to trade him. On the other hand, he isn't going yto have any protection in the lineup this season so there's a chance that his injury, coupled with our crap lineup, will keep his stats to a point where he wont command Beltran type money next year.
Tejada is an above average defensive shortstop, but Chavez has won the last 4 gold gloves for a reason. If I had to choose one, I'd take Chavez. Also, Oakland did have the soon to be AL ROY waiting behind Tejada, making it a little easier.
