And there was much fanfare throughout the land. With that thought, here’s something to bore you all…

When Oakland’s Billy Beane traded Tim Hudson to Atlanta, we all knew he’d get a lot of value in return. After all, Beane has built the A’s franchise into a consistent winner on a modest payroll. The first two names were fairly interesting: power pitcher Juan Cruz and pitching prospect Dan Meyer. Both have the ability to contribute to Oakland’s pitching staff in 2005. But the real discussion-maker was outfielder Charles Thomas. In half a season, Thomas had one of the more interesting stat lines in the history of baseball. In 267 plate appearances, Thomas walked 21 times and was hit by nine pitches, leading to an impressive .368 on-base percentage.

Clearly, Billy Beane would be interested in an solid defensive outfielder with a .368 on-base percentage, right? He loves that kind of player. Not so fast: Charles Thomas isn’t as spectacular as he seems. As it turns out, Thomas accumulated over 70 percent of his plate appearance in the #8 slot in the Atlanta order. You know what that means. Runner on second, Charles Thomas up, the light hitting pitcher on deck. The catcher stands up and holds hit mitt off to the side. Four straight balls and Thomas reaches first base on a walk.

Charles Thomas was intentionally walked nine times in his half season. That means he totalled only 12 unintentional walks in 2004. If we take those intentional walks out of his stat line, Thomas’s on-base percentage dips to .344; still good, but clearly not as hefty as .368. I wonder if Billy Beane considered that when he traded for Thomas.

Most of this could be moot anyway, because it’s a small sample size. But Thomas clearly benefitted from his slot in the Atlanta batting order. He should play a bit as Oakland’s fourth outfielder next year, and we’ll see if he can keep up his walk rate.