AZ welcomes ‘Moneyball’ legend Beane as advisor

The Hague, March 18: Dutch football club AZ Alkmaar have welcomed Billy Beane, general manager of Major League Baseball club Oakland Athletics, for an official advisor role.

The 52-year-old Beane is going to give AZ advice in areas of high performance and innovation. In almost two decades as general manager of the A's, Beane has evaluated players based on statistical analysis and achieved surprising results, reports Xinhua.

With his low budget team he beat the big market clubs on a regular basis. Beane even became the subject of Michael Lewis' 2003 book on baseball economics, Moneyball, which was made into a 2011 film starring Brad Pitt as Beane.

"I am truly excited for the opportunity to be part of AZ Alkmaar in an advisory role. Despite being a great football club with a storied history, they face many of the challenges we have with the Oakland A's. My love for football and AZ's vision of the future of the club made this an attractive pursuit," Beane said.

AZ director Earnest Stewart said: "We've had a lot of contact with Billy in the last few months. His knowledge and ideas are impressive. Also Billy's football network is excellent. We have already noticed that Billy thinks two steps ahead in the area of innovation. That's what really connects with the ambitions of AZ."

AZ are currently fourth in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football leagues. They became Dutch champions in 1981 and 2009.