The MLB winter meetings are set to officially start next week and the Hot Stove has already been set to pre-heat.  So many trade rumors are floating around that I can't exactly tell if they are rumors or if there is some actual truth to what is being said.

I had previously posted that Billy Beane, General Manager for Oakland, has hinted at a rebuilding effort this off season.  The big names that are being mentioned for trade:  Dan Haren, Joe Blanton, and Huston Street.  The rumors are more geared toward Haren, but the thought is that if he is traded, then Blanton and Street will be gone in a snowball effect.

Up until this past season, Oakland had eight winning seasons in a row, which included five playoff appearances made up of four division titles and one wild card. 

In 1999, Oakland was a slugging team.  Three players had over 30 homeruns and 100 rbi (Jason Giambi, John Jaha, and Matt Stairs).  Throw in Ben Grieve (28hr, 86rbi) and Miguel Tejada (21hr, 84rbi) and Oakland's recipe for success relied on the three run homerun.  With all the slugging going on, strikeouts were plentiful as well.  The top four homerun hitters for that team struck out over 100 times a piece.  The pitching was lead by Gil Heredia (13 wins) and Tim Hudson (11 wins).  In 2000, the offense was still geared toward the long ball, with five players hitting 20 or more home runs a piece.  This was also the first season that Hudson, Mark Mulder, and Barry Zito appeared together.  Their combined numbers weren't too impressive (36 - 20), but they gave fans a glimpse of the future.

In 2001 The Big Three went a combined 56 - 25 and Oakland's entire pitching staff had a combined ERA of 3.59.  That is an astounding number.  That club won 102 games and managed to clinch a playoff birth with the wild card.  2001 also marked the last season that Oakland would rely on the long ball and would begin to transform their offense into what it is today.  The emphasis would be moved from the pure slugging attitude to a more patient plate approach.  Billy Beane wanted players that would be smart at the plate and take what was given to them without helping out the pitcher by getting themselves out.  Part of this move was because Oakland could not compete financially with the bigger ball clubs like the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox.  Jason Giambi would leave the club and sign with New York, leaving Oakland looking for viable options at first base and designated hitter.  Enter Scott Hatteberg.  He wasn't the same kind of ball smashing, down and dirty player that Giambi was, but he fit the new model of plate patience and getting on base at a high rate.  The Big Three again had a huge year going 57 - 21 on the year.  The long ball hitters were slowly weeded out and new players were thrown in.  This continued until Beane had his full product assembled.

Let me fast forward to this past season where Oakland hit a combined .256 and The Big Three have since been traded or been let go due to free agency.  The top hitter on the team this season was Shannon Stewart (.290) and the top home run producer was Jack Cust (26).  Those are not exactly staggering numbers for a team that prides itself on getting base runners on due to walks and long at bats.  Billy Beane has tried to throw in a couple home run producers the past couple of seasons (Frank Thomas and Mike Piazza) to help off set the lack immediate offense on the team.  It helped with Thomas, but Piazza struggled with injuries for most of the season.  Throw in a ton of injuries to pitchers and hitters and you have the recipe for disaster. 

I think that it is time for Beane to realize that other teams have caught up with his philosophy and it is time for him to re-invent the game again.  He is a smart general manager and I think that he has a solid plan for the future.  But, in the mean time, I don't think a total rebuilding effort is needed.  Let's get back to playing Bash Brothers type ball Billy.  Keep your guys that you want to be the ones that jump start the offense, but let's get someone to drive in the runners when they are on base.  The pitching is good enough to win games, but the team can't continually be in the one run affairs like they were last season.

With the recent trade of Delmon Young to the Minnesota Twins, I think of the missed opportunity to really add some strength to the Oakland lineup.  I'm sure a package of Joe Blanton and Donnie Murphy or Dallas Braden would have gotten the trade to go through.  I don't want to trade Haren or Blanton, but for a player like Young, I would have jumped at that chance.