Keidel: Bryce Harper And Baseball’s New Salary Narrative

By Jason Keidel
In early 2002, the time framed in the film Moneyball, Billy Beane was toiling over his team and his payroll, wincing at his shrinking roster for the new season.
He pleaded with his owner for a few more bucks — to which the boss scoffed and rejected with some measure of indignity. So Beane told his staff they would surely lose Johnny Damon and Jason Giambi, two pillars of the lineup that made the Oakland A’s a contender.
Beane limped into every offseason like that &mda