So there's going to be a Moneyball movie...

The trailer came out earlier this week for the long-delayed movie based on the 2003 book by Michael Lewis. If you're not a baseball geek like myself, it will help you to know that it's about Oakland A's GM Billy Beane and how he revolutionized baseball by taking a more analytical look at building teams rather than opening up the cheque book like some of the AL juggernaut's like the Yankees and Red Sox. Since the A's operated (and still do) on a shoestring budget Beane became somewhat of a legend by thinking outside the box just to compete with the big boys.

The book is fairly in-depth on how they scouted players differently and looked at different tangibles in players that other teams wouldn't look at. The point I want to make is that the book is great; however, I don't know how it will translate into a movie. I'm not saying this as one of those people who can't imagine a certain actor portraying their favorite character. Check out the trailer below:

If you're into baseball it looks pretty good right? In saying that there are a few things to consider about this MLB season:
1) Four of the six MLB division leaders all spend over $90million a year on salaries. While Oakland spends $58 million. The other two division leaders, Cleveland and Texas both spend just over $60million each.
2) The Oakland As are terrible this year. They currently sit in the basement of the AL West with a .452 winning percentage. The positive news is that they're only 5 games back of their frugal cousins, the Texas Rangers.

I guess what I'm getting at is, is the Moneyball story still relevant? This movie movie comes out on September 23 which will be right in the middle of the MLB season. If the A's can make some ground it could be a nice story; however if the Phillies and the Red Sox are dominating the playoffs this could show that nothing has changed.

Since I mostly write about movies and sports I'm obviously going to check out the movie; however, I do hope the general public will give this David  vs. Goliath battle a chance.

p.s. Obviously, I haven't seen the movie yet but I can't help but wonder why this wasn't turned into a TV show instead. This screams HBO to me.