Billy Beane Reunites with “Moneyball” Prototype; Jason Giambi Returns to the Oakland Athletics

Jason Giambi coming back to the Oakland Athletics turns my stomach.

It turns my stomach because I remember Giambi signing with the New York Yankees for seven years and $120 million because Oakland’s six-year, $90 million dollar extension wasn’t good enough. I turns my stomach because I remember the last press conference I watched of his had the tattooed sporting, goatee wearing, long haired first baseman I had come to admire on stage in pinstripes, clean shaven, short hair and no tattoos saying that he has waited his whole life to be a New York Yankee.

It turns my stomach because bringing back one of the main names in baseball’s steroid controversy -- is a good idea.

There, I said it!

I’ve sat with fellow Athletic fans and attempted to justify not bringing back the 2001 AL-MVP. I said his numbers are not as good, he is old and more importantly, not on the juice anymore. Giambi isn’t going to be the player that Oakland fans remember. He’s a shell of the player he once was.

But even a shell is better than what the Athletics had stepping up to the plate last season.

The numbers say it all. As a team, the Athletics batted a dismal .247 (30^th), 125 home runs (25^th), 646 runs (27^th), 1318 hits (30^th), 610 RBIs (28^th) and 1226 strikeouts (4^th). The A’s finished third in the West for the second straight year. The last time Oakland finished back-to-back years not in the top two of the West and below .500, one decade ago (’97: 65-979, ’98: 74-88).

That’s why General Manager Billy Beane went out and got one of his favorite players to come back into the fold.

Giambi had a successful five years in New York, and I say five years because I don’t count the two seasons he was injured with a torn tissue in his left foot and a “benign tumor.” Take last year for example. At age 37, the gold thong wearing, mustache sporting first baseman hit 32 home runs, had 96 RBIs and although he struck out more than he walked (111-76), he still had an on-base percentage of .373.  The only player on the Athletics last year that had better numbers than Giambi was Jack Cust (33 home runs and an on-base percentage of .377).

Giambi entering the Athletics line-up, along with the newly acquired Matt Holliday, should only help to improve Cust’s numbers as well. It also spells the end for Travis Buck as a starter, as Cust is likely to take the outfield while Giambi cements himself at DH. I’m not sad though. Although Buck has a ton of energy, it doesn’t make up for batting .226 and streaking more than Mark Roberts (the famous British streaker).

The Athletics are a young team that could use some veteran leadership, and that is what Giambi brings to the table. The slugger has been humbled by his experience the last few years and I feel that is reflective on the size of the contract he signed. Certainly a player of his caliber can get more than four million for one-year. He can teach these young kids patience and how to work the count. If there is one thing Beane prides himself on is his “Moneyball” mentality on the game. Giambi is a perfect example of that and can impart his wisdom on a team where the average age is 25 years old.

I tried to debate Giambi’s return with fellow Brooklyn resident and Athletic enthusiast John Rauschenberg, but as our conversation continued I slowly started to think more about what this will do for Oakland and less about how he left the A’s high and dry over half a decade ago. I had to stop thinking about 2001 and starting looking at 2009.

Welcome back Jason Giambi, it’ll be good to see No. 16 back in the A’s dugout again.