Six years ago, with the release of Moneyball, Michael Lewis opened our eyes to the world of Billy Beane and how he managed to continuously produce Oakland Athletics teams that overachieved despite a budget so tight that it would make Ebenezer Scrooge look like a spendthrift.

In part of Moneyball, Lewis chronicles Beane’s approach to the MLB Draft. “Moneyball was so revolutionary because it captured a new way of thinking about the draft. Billy Beane and his staff were willing to think differently and creatively about the draft,” according to Ben Hyman of MLB draft site Real Baseball Intelligence. Beane liked the guys that other people would not think twice about. Personally, Beane’s philosophy changed how I look and rate fantasy baseball players. With that in mind, I decided to take a look to see how the players on Beane’s 2002 draft wishlist have faired as major leaguers and as fantasy players.

Grading System:
Out: A bust–never made it to majors, cup of coffee in the majors, or just flopped if he did make it.
Single: At least one servicable year, but minimal impact
Double: A couple of solid years, with some being significant impact
Triple: Solid major leaguer.
Home Run: A bonafide starter and star.

Pitchers (Team, Round, Overall)

Jeremy Guthrie (Indians, 1st, 16th) After struggling in AAA for three years, something finally clicked for Guthrie in his fourth AAA season. Guthrie eventually produced very solid numbers for the Orioles in 2007 and 2008, and should be a fixture in the majors for the next few years. Grade: Double
Joe Blanton (Athletics, 1st, 24th) Blanton is the middle of his fifth season of being a solid major league starter, first with the A’s and now the Phillies. While his hit totals are always high, his ability to throw strikes has kept him in the majors, even enjoying a couple of very stellar seasons. Grade:Triple
Jeff Francis (Rockies, 1st, 9th) One of the first pitchers to benefit from Colorado’s humidor, Jeff Francis posted very respectable 4.12 and 4.22 ERAs, and made fantasy owners not embarrassed to have a Rockies’ starter on their staff. Grade: Triple
Luke Hagerty (Cubs, 1st, 32nd) Hagerty never made it higher than A-ball, and was last seen playing in the Northern League. Grade: Struck looking on three pitchers
Ben Fritz (Athletics, 1st, 30th) Fritz got off to a rocky start in his career having to undergo Tommy John surgery early in his career. Unfortunately, the surgery did not help him do much better than half of a season at AAA. Grade: Flyball Out, warning track power.
Robert Brownlie (Cubs, 1st, 21st) Brownlie is still toiling around in the minor leagues, having only made it as high as AAA, and is currently toiling around in the Braves’ system. Grade: Ground Out.
Stephen Obenchain (Athletics, 1st, 37th) It became clear by 2006 that things were not going to work out for Obenchain who spent 2005 in AA and then was actually demoted down to A ball for the 2006 season. After a stint in independent league baseball, he hung up his spikes after the 2007 season. Grade: Casey at the Bat-sized Strikeout.
Bill Murphy (Athletics, 3rd, 98th) Has had two cups of coffees in the majors, with the most recent this season with the Blue Jays, and produced some respectable numbers. He has struggled with his control a bit, but might eventually turn into a useful left-handed specialist. Grade: Strike out, but the catcher dropped the ball, so he may still make it on base.

Position Players

Nick Swisher (Athletics, 1st, 16th) Now in his fifth season as a major league regular, Swisher has been the most productive of all of the players on Beane’s list. The biggest issue for Swisher has been his inability to hit for average, but he does own a very respectable .356 major league on-base percentage. Grade: Home Run.
Russ Adams (Blue Jays, 1st, 14th) After getting to the majors relatively quickly, and even having a stellar 2005 season for the Jays, Adams has struggled to consistently stay in the majors. Grade: Single.
Khalil Greene (Padres, 1st, 13th) I will always remeber Greene as the guy who put Rey Ordoñez into retirement. Greene has been a solid major leaguer since 2004, even belting out 27 homers in 2007. Greene has since struggled, but figures to be in the majors for a few more years. Grade: Triple.
John McCurdy (Athletics, 1st, 26th) An offensive star at the University of Maryland, McCurdy struggled with the switch to wood bats, and never managed to get higher than AA. Grade: Struck out looking.
Mark Teahen (Athletics, 1st, 39th) Teahen argurably has been the most consistent player on this list. Teahen is a fixture in the Royals’ lineup, and can be found as a starting thirdbaseman in most fantasy leagues. Grade: Home Run.
Jeremy Brown (Athletics, 1st, 35th) Unfortunately, Brown will always be known as the “fat catcher” from Moneyball. Brown poked his head in the majors for 10 at-bats in 2006, but never made it back. While he probably could have at least been a career AAA player, Brown announced his retirement before spring training in 2008. Grade: Struck out swinging.
Steve Stanley (Athletics, 2nd, 67th) Althought he was a career .295 hitter in the minors, Stanley just did not have it in him to power down the long road through the minor leagues. Stanley announced his retirement in 2008. Grade: Can of corn (Out).
John Baker (Athletics, 4th, 128th) Baker’s story is one of the most compelling. He did not crack a major league roster until just last season, but has already established himself as the Marlins’ starting catcher. In all likelihood, Bakey will be around the majors for at least a few more years. Grade: Single, might be able to stretch it into a double.
Brian Stavisky (Athletics, 6th, 188th) Stavisky’s most significant achievement is two cups of coffee in AAA for the Athletics. But, you have to love a guy like Stavisky who actually has found his way back into the minors after a stint in the independent leagues, and is currently producing for the Phillies in AA. Grade: Ground ball out. Hopefully, he might be be able to beat that grounder out for an infield hit.
Shaun Larkin (Indians, 9th, 272th) Larkin never really got his career going, struggling in A ball, before finally making it to AA, and hitting a wall there. At least he was only a 9th round pick. Grade: Struck out looking.
Brant Colamarino (Athletics, 7th, 218th) Proclaimed as the “best hitter in the country” by Billy Beane, Colamarino quickly moved through the Athletics system, hitting AAA in 2005, where he stalled. Sent back to AA for two more seasons, the Athletics and Colamarino parted ways after the 2007 season. He was last seen playing for the Somerset Patriots of the independent Atlantic in 2009. Grade: Strike Out.

Overall, Beane’s wish list had eight hits out of twenty, which is a solid number. However, a lot of first round picks make it to the majors, and 14 players on that list were first round. Of the six players on the list not taken in the first round, only John Baker eventually turned out to be a major leaguer. Does this mean Beane’s system is any better than conventional systems? Maybe, but it is probably just as good as any other system. It is just one season’s data, but there are some interesting results.

Of course, the most famous player in Moneyball was a minor leaguer by the name of Kevin Youkilis, who is now one of the premier hitters in all of baseball, and a fixture in the Red Sox’s lineup.

For your own amusement, you might want to look at these other Moneyball retrospectives from previous years:

• 2006 – Billy Beane’s Perfect Draft (Baseball Evolution)
• 2004 – The Boys of Moneyball, Again (Hardball Times)