Oakland's Beane isn't afraid of going green

You hear someone in sports say those words, and skepticism is the natural reaction. But Billy Beane zigs when baseball zags, with enough success to suppress the skepticism.

Eric Chavez is the survivor within the Oakland Athletics' clubhouse. He watched Jason Giambi go, and Miguel Tejada, and Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder and Barry Zito.

"It always seems like we're reinventing ourselves yearly in Oakland," Chavez said. "This is obviously to the extreme."

This wasn't about the money, not this time.

So says Beane, the general manager. He traded Dan Haren, the American League starting pitcher in the All-Star game, and starting outfielders Nick Swisher and Mark Kotsay, all for prospects.

Chavez isn't thrilled, but he isn't skeptical. He is 30, a six-time Gold Glove winner at third base, expected to start the season on the disabled list in the aftermath of off-season back surgery. He might not last long enough to represent the A's in October again, but he's a believer.

"At my age, rebuilding is what it is. It's rebuilding," he said. "In Billy's case, and in the case of the organization, it's absolutely the right thing to do."

The A's opened the season against the Boston Red Sox in Japan today, the defending World Series champions against Daric, Kurt and two guys named Jack. The A's don't believe they'll lose 100 games or finish last in the American League West, but Beane won't worry if they do.

"Short-term discomfort has never bothered me," he said. "The thought of long-term discomfort bothers me.

"If you wait too long and hit bottom, you usually hit it with a thud."

The A's finished in third place last year at 76-86, their first losing record in nine years. The voluntary introduction of short-term discomfort followed, one year after the A's advanced to the American League Championship Series.

"To be honest with you, after we went to the ALCS in 2006, I thought about redoing it," Beane said. "We had a good 10-year run. For us to get back to sustained success, we had to do it."

If you're waiting for Beane to say the A's weren't good enough to win, keep waiting. But a rash of injuries last season exposed a lack of depth, and Beane decided to rebuild rather than take his chances on a full recovery from almost the entire first string.

"We had the talent," he said. "We needed the health. We weren't exactly optimistic on the health prognosis."