Should Billy Beane take a shot with Gregor Blanco and Luis Jimenez?

Billy Beane, the A's General Manager, has been praised for building competitive teams by taking advantage of “market inefficiencies.” This means that he signs inexpensive players, that almost no other organization wants or would consider, because they overlook important statistics like OBP (on-base percentage), and give way too much importance to stats that aren't that important like RBI's (runs batted in).

He's been known to sign players like Scott Hatteberg and Jeremy Giambi among others for their ability to wear down pitchers and get on-base. For him, the ultimate offensive statistic is the OBP.

The A's are not getting positive results, and other teams like the Red Sox have adopted a similar approach to building a team, making it harder for the A's to get cheap, but productive players. So why doesn't Beane gives Gregor Blanco and Luis Jimenez a shot to make the team?

You might think that I've gone crazy, and yes, I have gone crazy, but in situations like this one, you have to think outside the box. Maybe you guys are not familiar with these two young players, but I'm going to tell you why I think they could work up in Oakland. It would be a low risk investment that would cost the team only a Minor League deal.

First there's Blanco. A 28-year old center fielder with an incredible talent for wearing down pitchers and a keen eye for drawing walks. In three Major League seasons his career OBP is .358, or .100 points above his career batting average. I believe this numbers can still go up. In 2010 he played 36 games with the Braves where he hit .310/.394/.362. He was then traded to the Royals and in 66 games hit .274/.348/.369. In 237 AB's in 2010 between the two teams he walked 29 times and struck out 50. Nothing impressive, but I'm sure he can improve.

This winter in Venezuela, Blanco hit .337/.478/.520 with 4 HR's, 14 2B and 5 3B in 196 AB's. He also walked 47 times and struck out 46. Impressive numbers that earned him the MVP award in the Venezuelan Winter League this year. In the semi-finals, Blanco kept his torrid offensive output up hitting .347/.484/.714 with 5 HR's, 1 2B and 1 3B in 49 AB's. He also has walked 13 times and struck out 11. Now tell me why doesn't Beane gives him a Minor League deal with a ST invitation to see if he can makes the team? After all the kid fits perfectly in the OBP-driven offensive/cheap player category.

Jimenez is another case study. He has incredible power and is a left handed hitter. The other day, he hit two 450+ ft home runs in the same game in Venezuela. And one of them was well beyond the 500 ft mark. The ball left the stadium, and was apparently the longest hit in the “Estadio Universitario” (Caracas, Venezuela) history. In 10 Minor League seasons Jimenez has a hitting line of .284/.367/.468 with 121 HR's in 2,876 AB's. This year in Venezuela, Jimenez hit .300/.417/.486 with 10 home runs in 220 AB's. He also walked 44 times and struck out 47.

For Beane and the A's, these two players are not going to be pricey. Just a couple of Minor League deals with invitations to Spring Training. I think they will prove their value to a team that is always looking for bargains.

Image by J. Chris Vaughan under the Creative Commons License.