A's News Clips, Monday, December 7, 2009 Giants, A's Have New
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A’s News Clips, Monday, December 7, 2009 Giants, A's have new approaches this offseason John Shea, Chronicle Staff Writer 12/6/09 With the four-day winter meetings beginning Monday in Indianapolis, the Giants and A's approach with far different philosophies than a year ago. At this point in 2008, the Giants already had signed Edgar Renteria, Jeremy Affeldt and Bobby Howry and were on the verge of finalizing a deal with Randy Johnson. The A's already had traded for Matt Holliday and begun negotiating with Jason Giambi, a sign they weren't fully dedicated to their youth movement, later adding Orlando Cabrera and Nomar Garciaparra. A year later, both teams have done a 180. The Giants want to be more patient, the A's more youthful. "What we really want to do is give our young players a chance to develop," A's general manager Billy Beane said, "and we want to hold on to them." Last month, Beane spoke of improving the offense via trades, and he acquired Jake Fox and Aaron Miles from the Cubs on Thursday. Now he's looking mostly at free agents, if only because he appears unwilling to part with any of his valuable youth. "We would probably be more interested in free agents," Beane said. "Given we're going through a rebuilding process, the advantage with free agents is you don't have to give up a player for them." A draft choice, either. The A's aren't interested in elite free agents or any who'd cost a compensatory draft pick (Type A free agents who were offered arbitration by their original teams). Same with the Giants. GM Brian Sabean is focusing on "second-tier" free agents. As to why the Giants aren't as aggressive as last winter, when they were quick to acquire free agents, Sabean said, "People learned from last year that letting things develop might be worthwhile. Also, we're further along and don't have as many holes. We know we have to upgrade the offense. Other teams, their acute need is pitching and aren't as good roster-wise in that area." Indeed, both the Giants and A's have far better pitching than hitting, and bats will be the focus in Indianapolis. The Giants need a catcher - to replace Bengie Molina and bridge to Buster Posey - a first baseman and possibly an outfielder. They're not ruling out an experienced reliever (a Howry re-signing perhaps), especially to provide bullpen depth in case prospect Madison Bumgarner is in the rotation. Oakland's goal is to find a long-term answer at third base. Fox is a third baseman by trade, but the A's might also play him at first, in left and as a designated hitter. Brett Wallace might not be ready for the majors. Dallas McPherson has been shelved with injuries. Adam Kennedy is a free agent but not entirely out of the picture. Eric Chavez still is around. That's a lot of options, but the A's remain in the market for a third baseman. "We're trying to surround the position," joked Beane, adding, "If Chavez is healthy, he's the guy. But we have to prepare for him not to be. Even if he is healthy, we still need someone long term." Beane is said to have inquired about Kansas City's Alex Gordon and Alberto Callaspo and the Angels' Brandon Wood, but none is considered trade bait for now. Third base appears settled for the Giants after Sabean said the organization envisions Pablo Sandoval there (and not at first) in 2010. With Posey waiting in the wings, Sabean wants to find a catcher only for one year. Certain free agents - including Rod Barajas, Miguel Olivo and Yorvit Torrelaba - prefer more than one year, but their agents still plan to meet with the Giants in Indy. "Absolutely," said Dan Lozano, who represents Barajas. Martin Arburua, Olivo's agent, said he already spoke with the Giants and will chat again. "There's mutual interest," he said. "Miguel definitely likes Bruce Bochy (who managed Olivo in San Diego in 2005) and would love to play in the Bay Area. He resides in Modesto. Miguel would take the best opportunity to play. I'm not sure if the Giants are it or not. We've talked to several teams." ‘Moneyball’ Starts RACHEL LEE HARRIS, New York, Times, 12/6/09 Sony Pictures Entertainment’s “Moneyball” is back in the game, with a new director, Bennett Miller, in negotiations to take over, Variety reported. In July the studio abruptly canceled the true-life baseball story — based on Michael Lewis’s 2003 book about the Oakland A’s and their general manager, Billy Beane — rejecting a script from the movie’s first director, Steven Soderbergh, and dropping him from the project just days before beginning production. But with Brad Pitt still attached, and a screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin, the film seems to be back on track. A budget and production dates have not been announced. TV actor now a star at making money Kathleen Pender, San Francisco Chronicle. 121/6/09 Many celebrities have an easier time making money than managing it, Nicolas Cage being the latest in a long string of examples. That makes Wayne Rogers a bit of an oddity in Hollywood. Rogers has been acting since the late 1950s, but is best known for his role as Trapper John on the hit TV series "MASH" from 1972 to 1975. In real life, Rogers plays a successful investor and businessman. He has helped start up or turn around banks, a vineyard, a convenience-store chain and a barge company. He is active in real estate and is a director of public company Vishay Intertechnology. He owns a tiny piece of the Oakland Athletics and is chairman of Kleinfeld Bridal, the New York shop featured on the reality show "Say Yes to the Dress." He is a regular panelist on "Cashin' In," a weekly business show on Fox News. Rogers, 76, was in San Francisco last week to speak to a National Investor Relationship Institute conference. He said some celebrities run into financial troubles because "they make too much money too quickly and feel entitled." Others "rely on a friend of a friend who made a lot of money with someone. They let somebody else do their due diligence," Rogers said in an interview. Rogers says he "does not use advisers per se. I do a lot of my own due diligence. If someone else does it, I ask a lot of questions: Where did you get this information? Who gave it to you? What were the circumstances? Have you verified it?" Rogers lives in Destin, Fla., and has an office in Los Angeles, where he has people who help him crunch the numbers. One key to his success is picking the right partners. "I was involved with bright people, innovative people, honest people, people who weren't looking for an edge," he says. The home run One of those people is Lew Wolff, a prominent real estate developer, hotel owner and managing partner of the Oakland A's. The two became friends when Wolff was head of real estate for 20th Century Fox and had a bungalow on the lot where Rogers was taping "MASH." Wolff says Rogers, who majored in history at Princeton, "could memorize his lines in about 10 minutes" and during his ample free time would visit Wolff. "We would talk about movies, business, everything," Wolff says. Rogers and Wolff were part of a group that co-founded Plaza Bank of Commerce in San Jose, which they sold to Comerica in 1991. "That was a major home run," Rogers says. Wolff says when he and a group of investors bought the A's, he gave Rogers "a very small piece," mostly for fun. He calls Rogers a "very high-energy person" and "an astute businessman. If you have a project in trouble, he'll do whatever it takes to correct the situation. He doesn't run and hide or point the finger." Thanks to his acting, "about 100 million people know who he is. That helps sometimes in his business dealings. He has access," Wolff says. Say yes to distress Although he has started some companies, Rogers likes to invest in distressed situations on the cheap. "I'm a thief," he says. "When we bought Kleinfeld's in 1999, there was a brand but there wasn't a business," he says. Rogers got into Kleinfeld's through another partner, Ronnie Rothstein, and his partner Mara Urshel, a former senior vice president at Saks. The company that owned Kleinfeld's debt hired Urshel as a consultant. "After a month, she said, 'Get hold of Wayne and let's buy this business,' " he says. "I looked at the numbers. It was a disaster from that point of view. But she knew the name was valuable." The new owners assumed some of Kleinfeld's liabilities and put in a small amount of cash, which they recouped when they discovered credit card charges that had never been submitted for payment. Another valuable asset "was the demographic information we get when a bride makes an appointment. We said, 'How can we monetize that?' " Rogers says. One way was getting into the honeymoon business. Later this month, the store will begin selling men's formal wear and suits. The new owners moved the flagship store from Brooklyn to New York and opened boutiques in leading bridal shops in four other cities.