TO FIGHT AND CONQUER IN ALL OF YOUR BATTLES IS NOT SUPREME EXCELLENCE; SUPREME EXCELLENCE CONSISTS IN BREAKING THE ENEMY'S RESISTANCE WITHOUT FIGHTING.

- The Art of War -

When December landed on the calendar this year, it did so rather softly. It bided its time. Lulled us all into a sense of even-keeled structure and complacency. The Jason Kendall trade was merely the warning shot over the bow prior to a flanking maneuver by Beane and his front office.

By the time the last Macy's Parade balloon had been packed back into mothballs Billy Beane went to work. After setting up the table and peppering GM's for over a year (several years, in some cases) with the possibility of landing Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder or Barry Zito in a trade Beane took over the Winter Meetings in Anaheim by doing a whole lot of nothing. He may have tipped his hand by going after Tyler Johnson, a left-handed strikeout artist in the Rule 5 Draft. But, not many picked up on that.

As soon as the last buffet had been plucked clean, the deafening silence turned into earth shattering cell-phone activity.

In the span of 72 hours last week, Billy Beane broke the hearts of millions of A's fans. Fans are simple folk, change the names on the back of the uniform and they get upset. Beane could care less about the average A's fan. He's not the best GM in baseball because he considers the fans. Fans want name-brand cache, not white-label, off brand merchandise. Fans don't have time to memorize more than four names for pitchers and maybe five names for batters. And if the names change every year, that's confusing.

Here's a bit of an example from this season.

A's fans were upset when Billy Beane let Jermaine Dye walk via free agency because Beane would not consider an mutual option for $14 Million for 2005 or even negotiation for the $8 Million a year Dye's agent was asking for. Yet, the BayArea sportswriters talked up Dye and sent fans into a frenzy. "The A's won't be able to replace Jermaine Dye's bat. The A's need that right-handed power from Jermaine Dye."

Was I going mad? Was this the same Jermaine Dye that hit all of 23 homeruns in 2004 and had a Slugging Percentage that was 4th best on his own team and second best for an A's outfielder?

Dye's VORP (Value Over Replacement Player) in the AL had him as the 4th best right fielder...in the AL WEST. A division of four teams.

Dye signed with the Chicago White Sox for two years and $10 Million. A far cry from what the BayArea 'Experts' assumed.

Billy Beane may have just corrected his glaring flaw: signing veteran Free Agents. While I am not saying that it is an easy task, according to Beane's track record, he sucks at it.

Sucks, real bad. Not Chuck LaMar sucks or even Omar Minya dumb. But, it isn't something he can hang his hat on.

When the A's sign veteran free agents, it tends to blow up in their face. See:

• Arthur Rhodes
  
• Mark Redman
  
• Jermaine Dye (signed before the market corrected itself)
  
• Scott Hatteberg (signed to an extension months before he was to become a free agent)
  
• Mark McLemore
  
• Eric Karros

Fans have forgotten that in the past several years, Beane has been busy creating his own brand and stamping players with his own label. The fans don't need to remember the names anymore. And if anyone on this earth was capable of comprehending what they read; THE NAMES DON'T MATTER.

Beane also won over seemingly hundreds more fans (if I count my email correctly) by his moves. He furthered his own reputation of being able to be on the winning side of most trades and still being able to say to other GM's, "wow, you fleeced me." And doing so with a straight face.

There seems to be a new sense of ownership in MLB. There are the teams themselves and the coordinated uniforms they wear. Then, there's Billy Beane's team. Oh, some of the players on this team are wearing an A's uniform or are in the A's organization. But there are dozens of players out there who are currently on another 25 Man Roster who don't know they play on the team in Billy Beane's head. Some are playing out of position and some haven't even been drafted, yet. But, there they are. Not swinging at the first pitch, allowing a possible triple to be a stand-up double, taking a moderate lead at first base - not straying too far off the bag, getting three outs on eight pitches, getting seven consecutive groundball outs, striking out the side on eleven pitches. There are out there. And they don't even know it.

Billy is going to assemble them, eventually. He is going to get what he wants. Screw you and the $15.95 you paid for a cheap T-Shirt with Mulder on the back of it. You'll but another $15.95 T-Shirt next time and you'll have the common sense N O T to get a player's name on it. You'll be learning a valuable lesson on economics, frugality, common sense and responsibility. And you won't even know it.

Then, the sportswriters will catch on. Fans are still going to A's games. And the A's are still winning. Sportswriters will ignore the articles they pushed out calling Billy Beane foolish and dangerous and that A's fans were suckers if they were still A's fans. The sportswriters will start penning articles on how great these new young A's players are. Oh, they'll mention how the A's acquired the players. But, they won't link to the article where they personally blasted the Oakland GM for making the trade. Maybe someday, some baseball blog puts together a series on the forgotten A's. The players sportswriters don't like to mention anymore. Kenny Rogers, Billy Taylor, Jason Isringhausen, Billy Koch, Miguel Olivo, Corey Lidle, Ted Lilly, Jeremy Bonderman. Those players that the sportswriters who sent down from Valhalla the creed that trading a veteran player was too risky and that younger players are never worth the risk. Because, apparently, veteran players were never young or inexpensive. In a few years, some of the former Oakland A's will start signing free agent contracts. The sum total of which could probably buy the A's a new stadium and pay the Major League Operations of the A's. But, the sportswriters will continue on their quest. Pumping up this latest jewel in the A's organization. Pushing his trade value even higher and higher. And they won't even know it.

Because sportswriters are idiots.