After !8 years trying to win it all on the cheap, Billy Beane finally got his owner to pony up for a 2014 run for the World Series. My first thought when I heard this late last night was “good, the Nats won’t have to face Jason Hammell as often.” (Hammell owns the Nats, having just beaten them twice this week for an 8-0 lifetime record against them!) My second thought was “too bad Mike Rizzo didn’t do something similar.” I won’t bother repeating all the details on this trade, which is well covered in the media, but Oakland definitely got the better of the Cubbies (and GM Theo Epstein) in this block-buster trade. Now the Nats might have a better chance of beating them:)