Billy Beane

When Billy Beane went on a totally different approach to start the 2009 season to bring in better offensive players, it was a major surprise.

He brought in Jason Giambi (32 home runs), Matt Holliday (25 home runs), Nomar Garciaparra, and, of course, Orlando Cabrera, who is a solid offensive shortstop, but his defense dramatically improved the A's up the middle.

Yet, even with the excitement of these new players to benefit the offense, there was another contract extension more A's fans should have been paying attention to.