Bridge Ball

Billy-Go-Round

Billy Beane continues to try to work his magic. Which would be, um, well, ahh. We're not sure. Generally Beane milks the very last drop of talent from a player before sending him on his merry way to the land of free agency and supplemental draft picks. It's a philosophy that has worked well be it a Johnny Damon, Jason Giambi or Miggy Tejada. But now Billy peered deep into the looking glass and sees one of the Big Three leaving the homestead and has freaked out.

Beane started the sweepstakes by sweettalking the Braves out of Marcus Giles and a prospect. A lineup topped by Kotsay, Kendall, Giles and Chavez looked pretty good to ole Billy. It would have worked, too, if Bobby Cox hadn't come to Giles rescue. Next Billy called on his pal Paul DePo. Apparently, Billy wanted one-time wonderkind Edwin Jackson and flavor of the month Antonio Perez. DePo had no problem with Mr. Jackson but he countered with Alex Cora instead of Perez. Beane looked at his roster and already saw at least three Cora's taking up spots in the names of Mark Ellis, Estaban German and Marcos Scutaro. That's an upgrade?

So what will happen? Probably the same thing that has in the past. Halfhearted negotiation followed by the usual hand wringing about how poor the club is then one last go around for a guy who has been the heart and soul of the team for six years, followed by a megabucks out-of-town contract and supplemental draft picks that will be used on guys that'll get hyped to the edge of sanity then traded for usable parts. Welcome to the Billy-Go-Round. Wash, rinse, repeat.