When Michael Lewis’ best-selling book “Moneyball” hit the market in 2003, baseball was changed forever. Lewis chronicled the inner workings of the Oakland Athletics, the team that somehow managed to turn bands of rejects into playoff contenders.
Since joining the A’s in 1998, general manager Billy Beane has sent the team to playoffs six times despite continually having one of the league’s lowest payrolls.
A “Moneyball” player is someone with perceived flaws or a questionable background who joined the A’s on a small contract, but contributed in a big way. Players’ success is measured on the qualities Beane and his staff found important, like not chasing pitches, getting on base and generating runs.
All advanced statistics taken from FanGraphs.