When you have one of the lowest payrolls in the MLB, you can't afford to waste money on players who haven't proven anything. In 2002, most MLB teams were focused on the elite high school players that could someday become starts. Oakland laughed at those teams. the A's only looked at college players who proved they could get on-base. They weren't focused on anything else. In the 2002 draft, the Oakland A's drafted Jeremy Brown, a college player out of Alabama. He held records at his school, but because he was "too fat to play baseball" he wasn't supposed to be drafted until around the 15th round. Jeremy Brown was the perfect guy for the Oakland A's. He was an established threat at the plate but had the "minor flaw" that made every other team to look past him. The A's knew other teams would laugh at their pick, they didn't care, they were focused on making their team better and nothing else. Jeremy Brown was the perfect example of the Oakland A's new way to make a baseball team. A new way that changed baseball forever.
Picture: http://larrybrownsports.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/jeremy-brown.jpg
Picture: http://larrybrownsports.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/jeremy-brown.jpg