by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND–Right after the Oakland Athletics traded outfielder and clean up hitter Yoenis Céspedes to the Boston Red Sox, for pitcher Jon Lester and outfielder Jonny Gomes, I made it known why I did not like such deal. I said it on A’s Spanish radio and also on Fox Sports West TV in Anaheim with Angels. So this is not a reaction to today’s standings where the A’s who not very long ago had a 6 game lead and looked like the best team in the world are today percentage points in first place behind the LA Angels.

Yes, Céspedes was inconsistent, but he was still the SOUL of that Athletics lineup. Billy Beane was tired of losing game 5 vs.Tigers, but this year (the way things are going) the Tigers might be the last thing the Oakland team has to worry about. I also wrote about it right after the deal was made, here in this site.

With Yoenis Céspedes the A’s have won two Western Divisions, he was the most popular player on the Athletics, he can do it all, offensively and defensively, he made the other hitters in that lineup much better, fans would love to watch Céspedes at the plate. If he is healthy, he will thrive in the AL East, where he would play most of his games not only at Fenway but also in Baltimore, New York and parks much more hitter friendly than the Oakland Coliseum, Safeco Field, Angel Stadium and others.

Lucky for Yoenis, now his mentor in Boston is none but El Papi Grande Ortiz. A potential Hall of Fame player that also speaks Yoenis’ language. He doesn’t need Ariel Prieto to translate anymore, but most important, with Papi his “language”is more about hitting, and that my friends, is a tremendous advantage for Yoenis.

Billy Beane loves numbers, he still employs Daric Barton (who is in AAA Sacramento) because of his On-Base-Percentage, Barton is a first-baseman that walks a lot but doesn’t have much power. But anybody that knows anything about the game, knows that Barton is not a Major League player. I do predict he will come up again to Oakland, during the September call-ups. Beane loves Lester and his ability to win in the postseason, and that is fine, I do understand that.

World of Money Ball: Beane is not a genius in my book, he would be if he had won a couple of World Series for the Athletics, but many consider him such because with a $75-80 million payroll he can compete with teams that have twice that in players salaries. Economy wise, he is a genius to the owners, saves them money, and the team makes a profit, but as far as winning a championship, he still far from it.

Fans could care less about the economics of the game, the pay $10 for a beer and much more for tickets they want to see a championship team in Oakland, something that happened back in 1989 during the Loma Prieta earthquake, when they swept the San Francisco Giants.

Yoenis always told me he was happy in Oakland, and that he would not mind staying here, because he appreciates the opportunity (his first since defecting from Cuba) into the Major Leagues. Yoenis Céspedes is a baseball player and he loves to play the game like most Cubans, but with the A’s he will never win a World Series.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish radio voice for A’s baseball and does News and Commentary each week for http://www.sportsradioservice.com