Why Lew Wolff is better than Steve Schott

From the Billy Beane interview over at Athletics Nation:

Blez: Has your overall budget increased since Lew took over? Or will it be basically more of the same?

Beane: There's the right time to do things and Lew is all for making good baseball decisions. I would probably say, let's do it at the right time. When the right baseball decision comes along and it fits short-term and long-term, then I have no doubt (the budget will increase) as he said it to me. But there's a right time to do some things. I won't necessarily go out tomorrow and take on some bloated contract so everyone can say, "Hey, they're spending money." That's not the right thing to do or the right way to run the business.

(empahsis, mine)

The only way this goodwill can be burned is by having the A's move out of the area. Consider this a warning, Mr. Wolff.

What I am ecstatic about is the fact that the A's payroll is going to go up is the correct opportunity presents itself. In this respect the A's are doing all the right things, they've signed Harden and Crosby (I think) to long term deals and the way the A's have been dealing recently, I can easily envision a payroll of around $70 million next year. Now that Beane has money, I wonder how this is going to affect the trade situations this year, how will the extra payroll room be utilized?

If the A's had this kind of resources like that back in the heyday of the Big Three the A's might have made it past the ALDS. I still maintain that 2002 should have been a repeat of the Bay Bridge Series.

I'm glad to see the new ownership is running the A's as more than just a profit making business, as Schott and Hoffman did in their tenure.

After the A's were elminated from the playoffs by the Red Sox in 2003, Beane publically stated that if he had a higher payroll the A's would go deeper into the playoffs. I think it's time for Billy to put his money where his mouth is.

Billy Beane + $$$ = Championships?

I'm not talking about '05 but subsequent years, of course.

Now, if only the stadium issue can be resolved quickly.