Billy Beane - A's Farm

Exclusive: A’s Special Assistant Grady Fuson Talks Top Prospects with A’s Farm

Long-time baseball man Grady Fuson served as the A’s scouting director from 1995 until 2001, when the team drafted such talented players as Eric Chavez, Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, Barry Zito and Rich Harden. He left the A’s at the end of 2001 to become the assistant general manager of…

The Baseball Project releases new anthem for A’s fans, “They Are The Oakland A’s”

The Baseball Project – featuring members of R.E.M., The Dream Syndicate and Young Fresh Fellows – is releasing their third album, titled 3rd, next Tuesday, March 25th. All the songs are about baseball, but only one of them is about the Oakland A’s. We’ve got it right here, and I…

A’s Spring Training Tour – 3/13/14

Minor League Camp at Papago Park [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnvXTBOp5js&w=560&h=315] Major League Camp at Phoenix Municipal Stadium Be sure to like A’s Farm’s page on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @AthleticsFarm. You can also get our exclusive A’s minor league updates e-mailed to you free by signing up here.

A’s Assistant GM David Forst on Top Prospects Russell & McKinney, Coco’s New Contract and What the A’s Expect from Reddick in 2014

As part of A’s FanFest this past weekend, a few representatives of the A’s took some time out to attend a bloggers-only press conference at the Coliseum. First up was A’s assistant general manager David Forst who volunteered a generous bit of time to talk about some top major and…

A’s Eager to Deal Prospects to Win Now!

A’s general manager Billy Beane has had a busy week – and it ain’t over yet! On Monday, the team signed free agent left-handed starting pitcher Scott Kazmir to a two-year $22 million deal. And later that same day, the A’s acquired right-handed closer Jim Johnson from Baltimore in return…

Exclusive: A’s Super Scout Grady Fuson Talks Top Prospects with A’s Farm

One of the most popular pieces we’ve featured here on A’s Farm over the past year or so was our profile of A’s super scout (and Moneyball bad guy) Grady Fuson. He was the A’s scouting director from 1995 until 2001, when he left the A’s to become the assistant general manager of…

A’s Make High School Outfielder Billy McKinney their Top Pick in 2013 Amateur Draft

For the second year in a row, the A’s selected a high school hitter with their first pick in the amateur draft. Last year it was shortstop Addison Russell, and this year it was center fielder Billy McKinney. McKinney just completed his senior year of high school in Plano, Texas,…

Prospect Watch with Grady, Farhan & Melvin

While soaking up plenty of Arizona sun during our spring training tour, we also wanted to make sure we got a little light shed on some of the A’s top prospects by folks in the know. So we took the opportunity to talk to three guys who really ought to…

A’s Swap Spare Parts For Second Shortstop!

As we pointed out in our analysis of the John Jaso trade just recently, the A’s are clearly in “WIN NOW” mode. And the team made another “WIN NOW” move on Monday, dealing part-time first baseman Chris Carter, minor league pitcher Brad Peacock and minor league catcher Max Stassi to…

What Did We Learn From A’s FanFest?

There were lots of interesting quotes to come out of last weekend’s FanFest in Oakland. And based on what was said by A’s management, coaches and players, here are a few things that I think we can safely surmise… * Coco Crisp will be the A’s primary center fielder and…

Beane And Melvin On A’s Top Prospects, Who’ll Play Second Base, And The Team’s Biggest Challenge In 2013

Over the past few days, we’ve brought you coverage of the bloggers-only press conference with various members of the A’s staff that took place last weekend at A’s FanFest. But there were a few question-and-answer sessions with the general public that provided some illuminating insights as well. The most interesting…

A’s Coach Mike Gallego On New Shortstop Hiro Nakajima, What Brandon Moss Shouldn’t Do, And What To Save In An Earthquake!

As part of A’s FanFest this past weekend, a few members of the A’s staff took some time out to attend a bloggers-only press conference in the bowels of the Oracle Arena. One of those who made some time to chat with us was A’s third base coach, and second…

A’s Deal Pitchers of the Future for Catcher of the Present

It was announced on Wednesday that the A’s had acquired catcher John Jaso from the Seattle Mariners as part of a three-team deal that sent A’s minor league pitchers A.J. Cole and Blake Treinen, along with a player to be named later, to the Washington Nationals, who sent first baseman-outfielder…

A’s Farm in Top 10 MLB Blogs in 2012!

Well, the results are in – and in our first year out of the box, A’s Farm was ranked in the Top 10 MLB blogs for 2012! At our peak late in the season, we were averaging almost 5,000 hits per week and almost 20,000 hits per month. And we…

Exclusive: A’s Assistant GM David Forst Gives the Lowdown on Off-Season Acquisitions and A’s Top Prospects – Part 1

Now that we’re almost a month and a half into the season, it seems like a good time to reflect on the A’s big off-season moves and try to get a read on how all those new acquisitions have panned out. Of the ten players the A’s acquired in their…

A’s Farm Makes Top 10 MLBlogs in April!

Thanks to everyone who’s stopped by for helping make A’s Farm one of the Top 10 MLBlogs in April – pretty amazing for just our 4th full month! If you haven’t already, be sure to like our A’s Farm Facebook Page and follow us on Twitter @AthleticsFarm to keep up with everything going…

Exclusive: A’s Super Scout (and Moneyball Bad Guy) Grady Fuson Gives the Lowdown on Life in Baseball and A’s Prospects to Watch

Grady Fuson is one of the baseball world’s most respected talent evaluators. He’s spent the past 30 years in pro ball, scouting talent at every level. As the A’s scouting director from 1995-2001, Fuson was responsible for drafting the A’s big three of Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder and Barry Zito…

Exclusive: A’s Director of Player Personnel Billy Owens Talks Top Prospects with A’s Farm

Last month, A’s Farm compiled our A’s Consensus Top 10 Prospect List, gathered from a variety of many different A’s prospect lists currently available. At the time, we offered our own analysis of each of the players on our list. But we wanted to find someone who could provide…

A’s Farm 12th Ranked MLBlog in 2nd Month!

Thanks to everyone who’s stopped by for helping make A’s Farm the #12th ranked MLBlog in just its second month! It’s clear that A’s fans are not just committed to supporting the team at the major league level but also to understanding the organization at every level. Be sure to stay…

When Billy Met Johnny…

by Bill Moriarity / A’s Farm Editor Following on the heels of our two-part interview with A’s GM Billy Beane earlier this week, and in honor of Moneyball’s recognition at the Oscars on Sunday night, I thought it’d be interesting to re-run this old interview that I did with Billy…