To be fair to Beane, these are emergency pickups. He's hoping Cust and Snelling can provide a bit of production to a very thin offense -- at least a few walks and the occasional longball. They are reasonable gambles under the circumstances. I'm sure Beane would prefer to acquire hitters who are actually good, but (a) they're not on the market right now, and (b) he's still got a limited budget.

While Beane is looking for hitters, Brian Cashman is trying to find pitching help. And I'm sure that all he has to choose from are the equivalents of Jack Cust and Chris Snelling.

Beane seems to attract far more than his share of snark. Sure, he thinks he's even smarter than he is (in that regard, he has a lot of company in the baseball world); but look at the track record. He's constantly losing top talent for budgetary reasons, yet he always has his team in contention. Beane may be the best GM in the game, and he's definitely in the top five.

From U.S.S. Mariner:
"Doyle [Chris Snelling] isn’t going to make the difference between the A’s and Mariners winning the AL West this year, next year, or any year. It’s what Doyle stands for. The A’s are an organization of smart, baseball savvy people who are constantly looking for any small advantage they can get over their competition in an effort to win every single year. The Mariners are an organization that throws money at bad players because of their incompetency and get taken to the cleaners by people who are better at their jobs than they are."

I just don't understand why you'd want Snelling instead of Langerhans. I'm sure I'm missing something, but I don't know what it is. It seems to me you're trading a known for an unkown that might be a little better.

I wonder if Beane and Cashman could work out a trade so they both get what they want... a hitter for Oakland, and a pitcher to NY. Hmmm... Giambi for Duchscherer would be interesting. Probably never happen, a trade like this could work for both teams.

David, while I agree that Langerhans is a much more sure bet to stay healthy than Snelling, I think Beane perceives Snelling to have greater upside.
Langerhans, at his best, will not hit well enough to be an A.L.-quality corner outfielder. Therefore, his value to Beane his moot.
Snelling, while less likely to stay healthy, may become an A.L.-quality corner outfielder. I'm deriving this from a few minor league seasons he's had that are better than any Langerhans ever has had, and the fact that Snelling is nearly 2 years younger.
Beane is trading a surefire healthy 4th or 5th outfielder for a guy who is likely to break down, but has a chance to be a starting corner OF. Snelling has higher upside... and Beane already has his share of Langerhans-type 4th outfielders, and can cheaply acquire another if he needs one.

To be fair to Beane, these are emergency pickups.

Okay, then shall we have a discussion about the effectiveness of A's drafting and player development, then? Good players don't materialize out of thin air, something the Yankees are finding out this year in spades.