Spring can be seen in Beane's step

ShareThis

PHOENIX -- Presiding over his baseball empire, Billy Beane feels the rejuvenation of spring. Youth again percolates through his Oakland A's system, reinvigorating the minor leagues - and the boss.This has been an unusual spring with a condensed calendar. The A's leave for Japan on Wednesday night to open the regular season against the world champion Boston Red Sox in Tokyo on March 25. Final cuts must be made by Wednesday, not April 1. Also, the A's organization had more than 170 players in camp, including 131 at its minor-league complex. That's about 30 more than normal."We needed a lot of players," said Beane, the general manager. "We needed that infusion of talent, particularly in pitching. We got more sooner than later." Beane keeps his eye trained on the future, which he sees as worldwide. A season opener for America's game in Japan might seem strange to Oakland fans, but Beane considers it a perfect pitch."The entire world has access to baseball," he said. "It would be foolish not to build our sport and play beyond its borders. I love the fact that we're continuing to push our borders. That's a lot bigger talent pool."Although players might feel the pressure of competition and a shortened 26-game spring schedule, Beane has been relaxed. Taggert, his border collie, welcomed visitors to Beane's Phoenix Municipal Stadium office last week with a steady wag.By Beane's standards, it was a relaxed winter, too. "(The offseason) wasn't that busy," he said with a shrug. "We made two big trades; traded two players, acquired nine."He likes those numbers. "We needed to start rebuilding," Beane said. "We had a great decade's run, but it was time to get started."On Dec. 14, the A's sent All-Star pitcher Dan Haren and right-hander Connor Robertson to Arizona for outfielders Carlos Gonzalez and Aaron Cunningham, infielder Chris Carter and pitchers Brett Anderson, Dana Eveland and Greg Smith. To kick off 2008, Beane traded popular switch-hitting outfielder Nick Swisher to the White Sox on Jan. 3 for pitchers Fautino De Los Santos and Gio Gonzalez and outfielder Ryan Sweeney. And on Jan. 14, outfielder Mark Kotsay was traded to Atlanta for pitchers Joey Devine and Jamie Richmond. Most of the newcomers will start the season in the minors.In particular, Beane agonized over the Swisher trade."Nick's a big personality, great kid and good player," Beane said. "It was tough, not something we planned in the offseason, but Chicago was very aggressive."He said he took an offer the A's couldn't refuse. "It was a great deal for us," Beane added. "Nick will do great in Chicago, and the return we got will pay dividends for a long time."Baseball operates on a cycle, he reasoned, a lot like the seasons. Spring is all about rebirth."We've gone through this before," Beane explained. "We weren't going to be particularly good if we didn't do anything. We could win 75, 80 games -- that's not OK with me. The goal is to have something special. To pawn off mediocrity is not something we should be doing."Oakland's 40th anniversary season starts with a historic road trip to Japan to play exhibition games against Yomiuri and Hanshin in Tokyo on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, before the season starts against Boston on March 25 and 26, also in Tokyo.After the opener, Oakland flies home on a chartered Boeing 747 to play three more exhibition games March 28-30 against the Giants.Opening in Japan "is great, absolutely," Beane said. "It's fantastic. (Exhibition games) are too myopic. ... This is a great opportunity, professionally and personally."We pushed to get this trip," he added, noting a similar one was canceled in 2003. "We wanted this opportunity. This is a business. You want to expand that business; we're not a mom-and-pop store. We have a big world out there. It makes sense to tap into it. ... We'll see a day when we go all over the world to play."(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)