Oakland A's GM Billy Beane is handicapped with the lowest salary constraint in baseball. If he ever wants to win the World Series, Billy must find a competitive advantage. Billy is about to turn baseball on its ear when he uses statistical data to analyze and place value on the players he picks for the team. Written by Douglas Young_(the-movie-guy) In 2001, General Manager Billy Beane's Oakland A's lose to the Yankees in the playoffs then lose three stars to free agency. How can Beane field a competitive team when the A's player salaries total less than a third of the rich teams'? To the consternation of his scouts, Beane hires and listens to Peter Brand, a recent Yale grad who evaluates players using Bill James' statistical approach. Beane assembles a team of no names who, on paper, can get on base and score runs. Then, Beane's manager, Art Howe, won't use the players as Beane wants. Can Beane circumvent Howe, win games, make it to the 2002 Series, and stand baseball's hidebound conventions on their heads? Written by You may also find these two sites helpful: http://www.grantland.com/story/ /id/7328539/the-economics- moneyball http://freakonomics.com/2011/09/26/a-sports-economists- thoughts-on-moneyball-a-guest-post-by-j=c-bradbury/ . Summarize the economics behind Bill Beane's approach to fielding teams. In what sense are players viewed as assets like stocks, either under or over-valued at any point in time? What is the return a team gets by investing in a player? . Is this team interested in maximizing profits? If not, what are they maximizing? . How was Beane's strategy employed by the A's? . Did it work over the short run? The long run? . The Freakonomics article above states, "Moneyball offers a snapshot in the life-cycle of what economist Joseph Schumpeter called "creative destruction." What does this mean? How is the Moneyball strategy similar to other kinds of innovation in markets which can be imitated or copied