Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle has a nice interview with A's general manager Billy Beane.
When asked about whether he's planning on being active at the deadline, Beane's answer: "We have always managed our budget, and we could quite possibly lose money this year – very likely we will. But we won't have to make trades for financial reasons. If we make any, it will be for baseball reasons."
Slusser asked him "What is the most pressing need?" Beane's answer: "Some of it is pretty obvious. We need to get some position players and some bats… We need to get some core position players in place. The good news is that we have some kids coming that I think will be a part of that. With the injuries, we've had a tendency to rush some of the development and it's not ideal. We want to make sure we do everything to give them a chance. But obviously as we go through the summer, we might want to see if some of these guys are ready for the next level."
Beane also acknowledged Bob Geren has faced his fair share of adversity during his three years with the A's. Is his job safe? Beane says yes.
