The Billy Beane Hall of Fame fight is gonna be a load of fun, isn’t it?

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Richard Justice has a good column up about Billy Beane today. He notes Beane’s role as a transformative figure and how, despite the fact that every GM this side of Ruben Amaro has followed Beane’s approach — and despite the fact most of them have more money to work with than he does — Beane’s A’s still compete and even thrive.

Justice upped the ante a bit in a tweet promoting his column:

 

I could get on board with that. I think Sandy Alderson should maybe get more credit, as he taught Beane what he knows about exploiting hidden value, looking to analytics such as OBP over traditional ones and all of that, but Beane certainly is the poster boy for the sabermetric revolution in baseball front offices.

But man, I can’t help but think that a Hall of Fame debate about Billy Beane is gonna be a bloodbath. Scores of Hall of Fame voters, be they veterans committee types or otherwise, have spent years decrying and, even more often, misrepresenting sabermetrics.  If you think the august group of Hall of Fame voters is gonna credit Billy Beane the way Justice and I think he should be credited, well, I got a a bunch of bridges to sell you.

Orioles option LHP Bruce Zimmermann to minors

Brent Skeen-USA TODAY Sports
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SARASOTA, Fla. – The Baltimore Orioles have optioned left-handers Bruce Zimmermann and Nick Vespi and reassigned infielder Lewin Díaz, left-hander Darwinzon Hernandez and catcher Mark Kolozsvary to minor league camp.

The Orioles announced the moves Monday.

Baltimore’s spring training roster now has 46 players.

Zimmermann made 13 starts last season. He went 2-5 with a 5.99 ERA.

The competition for rotation spots with the Orioles has been a significant story during spring training, but after the team acquired Cole Irvin and Kyle Gibson in the offseason – and with top prospect Grayson Rodriguez in the mix as well – there were a lot of pitchers Zimmermann needed to beat out.