The Wall Street Journal - 21.08.2019

A12| Wednesday, August 21, 2019 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

STIRRING THINGS UP| By Gary Larson

Across

1 Gesture of

acknowledgment

4 What a

chiromancer

reads

8Con

14 Lennon was her

third husband

15 English horn’s

cousin

16 Brain unit

17 Hip actors?

19 Duff

20 Comics pooch

21 Ligament injury

23 Utah ski resort

24 Loses it

26 Hip wallflowers?

29 Eleniak of

“Baywatch”

30 Greek city

where St. Paul

preached

31 Platter

33 Gillette brand

between Trac II

and Sensor

34 Realize

35 Hip publicists?

38 Anatole France’s

“L’Île ___

Pingouins”

41 Big galoots

42 County west of

Napa

46 Stores

48 Mama and papa’s

mamas

49 Hip ghosts?

51 Jacket parts

52 Bohr subject

53 Wrapped

garment

55 Smoothie

fruit

56 Grout appliers

59 Hip tennis

players?

61 Square

62 Protein-rich

legume

63 Squiffed

64 Brew from an

African shrub

65 Slightly

66 Argentine

article

TheWSJDailyCrossword |Edited by Mike Shenk

12345678910111213

14 15 16

17 18 19

20 21 22 23

24 25 26 27 28

29 30

31 32 33 34

35 36 37

38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45

46 47 48

49 50 51

52 53 54 55

56 57 58 59 60

61 62 63

64 65 66

Previous Puzzle’s Solution

s

Solve this puzzle online and discuss it at WSJ.com/Puzzles.

ASADA ABS ALDA

ARLEN TR I O MORN

HOLLYBOUGH STAT

WHOO P I N G C OU G H

MOO I NG NSEC SNO

ERR EOS E I LEEN

ASKS TOMB NASTY

PLAYROUGH

MAR I E AS SN R E PO

I SHTAR ESL GOD

STY RUST HOAGI E

COMI NGTHROUGH

AR I D BREADDOUGH

SINE YAMS ERNIE

TAGS YEP RATTY

Down

1 Useless person

2 How some

dumb things are

done

3 “Preacher” star

Cooper

4 Greenhouse

container

5 Helps

feloniously

6 Body of

traditional

stories

7 Monument

Valley sights

8 Having five

sharps, perhaps

9 Start for

realism or

impressionism

10 Undergo change

11 Naive

12 “Regrettably,

you’re correct”

13 As a body

18 Prospex

watches, for

example

22 Butler on a

plantation

25 Covered

parking place

27 Belgian town

destroyed in

World War I

28 “My ___” (

#1 hit for the

Knack)

32 Cup brand

33 Beast of burden

36 Moves toward

37 Be short with

38 Presidential

candidate, at

times

39 Based on

feelings

40 Wound on a

bobbin

43 Amoeba

makeup

44 Sub-Saharan

scourge

45 Basketball stat

47 Willis’s co-star

in “The Sixth

Sense”

50 Latin dance

51 OPEC nation

54 Dig like a pig

57 Parisian way

58 Aromatherapy

setting

60 Down

Weather

Shown are today’s noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.

City Hi Lo W Hi Lo W City Hi LoW Hi LoW

Today Tomorrow Today Tomorrow

City Hi Lo W Hi Lo W

Anchorage 66 50 pc 68 53 pc

Atlanta 92 75 pc 91 73 t

Austin 97 74 s 97 74 s

Baltimore 93 73 t 93 69 c

Boise 97 63 s 85 56 pc

Boston 85 72 t 91 66 pc

Burlington 87 68 t 79 59 pc

Charlotte 89 72 pc 91 72 t

Chicago 82 63 pc 77 63 pc

Cleveland 85 63 t 73 56 pc

Dallas 99 78 s 98 77 s

Denver 83 59 t 88 62 pc

Detroit 87 61 t 77 59 pc

Honolulu 91 77 s 91 77 pc

Houston 94 76 t 93 77 s

Indianapolis 87 66 t 78 64 pc

Kansas City 86 65 t 78 66 t

Las Vegas 109 82 s 107 80 s

Little Rock 96 73 pc 91 72 t

Los Angeles 87 65 pc 85 64 pc

Miami 91 76 pc 90 75 pc

Milwaukee 81 62 pc 75 61 s

Minneapolis 78 57 s 75 54 s

Nashville 92 74 pc 89 73 t

New Orleans 88 77 pc 90 77 pc

New York City 87 75 t 89 68 pc

Oklahoma City 98 72 pc 94 70 pc

Omaha 74 61 r 79 62 pc

Orlando 90 74 pc 90 74 t

Philadelphia 92 75 t 92 69 t

Phoenix 114 83 s 108 84 pc

Pittsburgh 84 63 t 76 56 c

Portland, Maine 81 67 r 86 60 pc

Portland, Ore. 69 57 r 76 56 pc

Sacramento 94 64 s 97 62 s

St. Louis 89 72 t 82 67 t

Salt Lake City 99 72 s 94 67 pc

San Francisco 79 60 pc 79 56 pc

Santa Fe 87 55 t 87 56 pc

Seattle 69 58 r 75 57 pc

Sioux Falls 76 53 s 78 57 pc

Wash., D.C. 91 77 t 93 72 pc

Amsterdam 71 53 pc 71 55 pc

Athens 90 77 s 93 78 s

Baghdad 116 84 s 110 81 s

Bangkok 90 81 t 91 79 t

Beijing 88 68 pc 90 66 s

Berlin 74 54 pc 78 56 pc

Brussels 71 51 pc 74 53 s

Buenos Aires 53 41 pc 57 40 pc

Dubai 104 88 s 104 92 s

Dublin 64 53 r 69 57 c

Edinburgh 66 51 r 64 58 sh

Frankfurt 76 53 pc 80 56 s

Geneva 72 55 t 77 58 pc

Havana 89 71 pc 90 72 t

Hong Kong 91 80 pc 90 82 t

Istanbul 85 71 c 86 74 s

Jakarta 92 74 s 91 75 pc

Jerusalem 84 65 s 86 68 s

Johannesburg 67 45 s 72 46 s

London 72 54 pc 75 57 pc

Madrid 87 64 pc 91 64 pc

Manila 88 81 t 88 80 t

Melbourne 61 49 sh 55 42 c

Mexico City 73 56 t 72 56 t

Milan 90 68 pc 86 68 pc

Moscow 76 65 pc 75 52 c

Mumbai 87 80 sh 86 79 sh

Paris 76 53 pc 79 56 s

Rio de Janeiro 72 66 sh 72 64 pc

Riyadh 110 76 s 112 81 s

Rome 86 67 s 86 68 pc

San Juan 88 79 pc 89 79 pc

Seoul 88 70 c 88 68 pc

Shanghai 92 77 pc 90 79 pc

Singapore 90 78 pc 90 81 t

Sydney 6954pc 6546pc

Taipei City 91 79 t 94 80 t

Tokyo 88 78 t 87 78 pc

Toronto 82 56 t 73 52 pc

Vancouver 70 57 r 71 57 pc

Warsaw 69 52 t 75 53 pc

Zurich 71 52 pc 75 55 pc

Today Tomorrow

U.S. Forecasts

International

City Hi LoW Hi LoW

s...sunny; pc... partly cloudy; c...cloudy; sh...showers;

t...t’storms; r...rain; sf...snow flurries; sn...snow; i...ice

Today Tomorrow

Warm

Cold

Stationary

Showers

Rain

T-storms

Snow

Flurries

Ice

<

0s

10s

20s

30s

40s

50s

60s

70s

80s

90s

100+

Ah ll

JJk ill

Little Rock

Chltth

LoL

Pitbb hh

ew Yk

Salt LLake CityLLake CityC

Tampa

Memphishi h

CityCCy

Dll

P

g

Por d

an

t

ld

Atl t

eww

San Diego Ph

Los AngeA

Las

Ve

i Mpls./St. Pau/St. Paul

.Lou

Chicagog

hihhington D.C.gton D C

t

CCCh l t

k rtford

hit

di p

Cleve d

AAAti

l

k

Abq qq

hh

Oklahoma CityOklahoma City

an AAt i

es Moines

oux Fll

Jack hh

Cheyenney Phil d l hih lhp

aF

Colorad

Springspp

Pierre

h d

ihh

Tc

Abanybbny

Topk

CC bb

AAgt

Ft. h

Springpifild

bb

TT

p

VVancouver

Calgarygary

d

Anchorage Honolulu

Jacksonville

Little Rock

Charlotte

Louisville

Pittsburgh

New York

Salt Lake City

Tampa

Memphis Nashville

Detroit

Kansas

City

Dallas

El Paso

Billings

Portland

Miami

San Francisco

Sacramento

Orlando

Atlanta

New Orleans

Houston

San Diego Phoenix

Los Angeles

Las

Vegas

Seattle

Boise

Denver

Mpls./St. Paul

St. Louis

Chicago

Washington D.C.

Boston

Charleston

Milwaukee Hartford

Wichita

Indianapolis

Cleveland

Buffalo

Austin

Helena

Bismarck

Albuquerque

Omaha

Oklahoma City

San Antonio

Des Moines

Sioux Falls

JacksonBirmingham

Reno Cheyenne Philadelphia

Santa Fe

Colorado

Springs

Pierre

Richmond

Raleigh

Tucson

Albany

Topeka

Columbia

Augusta

Ft. Worth

Eugene

Springfield

Mobile

Toronto

OttawaMontreal

Winnipeg

Vancouver

Calgary

Edmonton

70s

80s90s

50s

60s

40s

100s

100s

100s

90s

90s

90s

90s

90s

90s

80s

80s

80s

80s

80s

80s

70s

70s

70s

70s

70s

60s

50s 60s

60s

70s

70s

70s

E

arly in the movie “Mon-

eyball,” Brad Pitt’s Billy

Beane sits in front of a

room of befuddled old-

school scouts and deliv-

ers the message that has defined

the real-life Oakland Athletics for

nearly two decades.

“If we try to play like the Yan-

kees in here,” Oakland’s heralded

executive says, “we will lose to the

Yankees out there.”

That attitude helped spark base-

ball’s data revolution and made the

A’s the blueprint for how to thrive

with a minuscule budget. Unable to

compete with their big-market op-

ponents for high-price talent, the

A’s built a powerhouse in the early

2000s largely through their farm

system.

But with the A’s now pushing for

yet another playoff berth despite a

payroll near the bottom of the ma-

jor leagues, an examination of their

team reveals something strange: As

they begin a crucial three-game se-

ries against New York on Tuesday,

the A’s are suddenly more like the

Yankees than the Yankees them-

selves.

Oakland has just six homegrown

players—those who have spent

their entire North American profes-

sional career in the A’s organiza-

tion—on its active 25-man roster

and MLB injured and restricted

lists. Only the Chicago Cubs have

fewer. The deep-pocketed Los An-

geles Dodgers have 18. The Boston

Red Sox, the game’s highest-spend-

ing team, and the Yankees, the ex-

act opposite of the A’s when it

comes to wealth and luxury, both

have 13.

“We’re zigging when everyone

else is zagging,” A’s outfielder Ste-

phen Piscotty said.

It’s what the A’s have been doing

for as long as Beane—now Oak-

land’s executive vice president of

baseball operations—has been in

charge, and that unyielding com-

mitment to being different has paid

off. They’ve reached the postseason

nine times since 2000, better than

all but five teams over that span, a

group that includes blue bloods like

the Yankees, Red Sox and Dodgers.

Much of that success stemmed

from shrewd scouting and develop-

ment. Twenty years ago, they nur-

tured homegrown talent, including

sluggers Jason Giambi, Miguel

Tejada and Eric Chávez and the

pitching trio of Tim Hudson, Mark

Mulder and Barry Zito. The A’s had

four Rookies of the Year between

1998 and 2009, the most in the ma-

jors during that stretch.

Baseball has changed since then,

however. Inspired by teams like the

A’s to re-evaluate their approach,

even the biggest spendthrifts now

covet economic efficiency. (The A’s

have a payroll of a little over $

million this season, compared to

upward of $210 million for the Red

Sox and Yankees.)

This shift in thinking has re-

sulted in a new paradigm for team-

building. Virtually all general man-

agers, not just the ones operating

with payroll constraints, value

prospects as integral components

of their roster, not trade bait. They

have little interest in paying for

midtier free agents, which has de-

pressed the market. And they have

no qualms about engaging in dra-

matic rebuilds—a strategy known

as tanking—leading to decreased

competition for established assets.

TheA’shavetakenadvantageof

those forces by quickly finding the

latest inefficiency to exploit: actual

major-league players.

Since identifying infielders Matt

Chapman and Matt Olson—a pair

of recent first-round draft picks—

as a core they wanted to build

around, the A’s have gone on a

trading spree. In recent years

they’ve acquired key contributors

like Piscotty, Khris Davis, Marcus

Semien and Ramón Laureano all in

deals. Last month, they traded for

two new starting pitchers, adding

Tanner Roark and Homer Bailey.

Much of their bullpen, perhaps

their greatest strength, arrived via

trade, including All-Star closer

Liam Hendriks.

In almost every instance, the A’s

received more production than

they gave up.

“We’ve always had to operate a

little differently than everybody

else,” Oakland GM David Forst said.

“We’re never afraid to be wrong,

and if that involves trading away

good players, then we’re OK with

that, because, ultimately, we have a

lot of conviction in the players

we’re getting in our half of the

deal.”

The A’s have supplemented their

roster in free agency, snagging use-

ful players for less than they might

have in the past.

Before the 2018 season, they

signed Yusmeiro Petit for just $

million over two years, and he’s

emerged as one of their most reli-

able relievers. This past winter,

they committed $14.1 million to re-

sign starting pitcher Mike Fiers, in

addition to spending another $18.

million on reliever Joakim Soria,

outfielder Robbie Grossman and

starter Brett Anderson.

They’ve been able to do all this

even with their payroll limitations

because of the increasing number

of teams across baseball prioritiz-

ing the future over the present.

There, too, is where the A’s differ

from their opponents: They try to

win every season, no matter what,

a mandate from Beane. Forst de-

scribes it as “our responsibility to

the fans to put a good product on

the field.”

It hasn’t always worked; the A’s

finished in last place in their divi-

sion three straight times starting

in 2015. But in none of those sea-

sons were the A’s actively tanking,

a tenet that could pay off with a

second straight playoff appearance

in 2019. They entered Tuesday a

game out of a wild-card spot in the

American League.

“It’s never, ‘Tear it down and

not try,’” A’s manager Bob Melvin

said. “We’ve always done the best

we can here with what we have,

and I really appreciate that.”

The A’s realize there are down-

sides to their way of doing busi-

ness. Their frequent trades create a

roster churn, with Oakland fans

rarely developing a longstanding

relationship with individual play-

ers. Forst says the A’s have “cer-

tainly got the message from the

fans that they want players to stay

here.”Theyhopeiftheyevercom-

plete their quest for a new sta-

dium, it will allow them to increase

payroll and keep their stars.

Until then, the A’s will continue

trying to make the postseason

their way—and hopefully more

than that. Despite all of their Octo-

ber appearances, they haven’t

reached the World Series since

1990. Last season, they lost to the
      Yankees in the wild-card game.
      This season, they expect more than
      that.
      “That experience alone taught
      us that we can get there,” Davis
      said. “It’s not out of our reach.”

Oakland’s executive vice president of baseball operations Billy Beane, left,

keeps the Athletics competitive by zigging when everyone else is zagging.

BYJAREDDIAMOND

The A’s Find a New Inefficiency

For two decades, Oakland built a winning team through the farm system. Suddenly, they’ve flipped that script.

FROM TOP: BEN MARGOT/ASSOCIATED PRESS; MASTERPRESS/GETTY IMAGES

SPORTS