Baseball | Oakland general manager Billy Beane confirms team's commitment to youth movement

OAKLAND, Calif. — General manager Billy Beane says he is committed to a youth movement for his small-market Oakland Athletics, even if the payoff takes time.

One positive sign of progress: closer Andrew Bailey's American League Rookie of the Year award Monday. That helped reinforce to Beane his plan is the right one for a club determined to become a perennial contender again. Beane's model calls for building from within and giving young players chances.

"We're going to stay disciplined," Beane said Tuesday at a news conference. "We're going to go with young players. We want long-term answers, like Andrew."

The 25-year-old Bailey was an All-Star in his first season as a reliever, with 26 saves and a 1.84 ERA.

"For me, it's a building block, something I can always fall back on — look what you did this year," Bailey said.

Of Bailey's award, Beane said, "That's why having a lot of young players is great. Some are going to disappoint and some are going to surprise. ... It's really been a great story."

Oakland finished with 75 victories for the second consecutive season and in last place in the AL West, losing its final seven games.

Bailey can be an example in Oakland's system. So can Brett Anderson, Trevor Cahill and other rookie pitchers who performed fairly well last season.

Beane points to the old A's under then-owner Charlie Finley, a notorious micromanager. Finley moved the team from Kansas City to Oakland in 1968 and the A's won three World Series in a row from 1972 to 1974.

"It's the same recipe," Beane said of building from the bottom up. "It's whether we've got the guts and whether the people who follow the team realize it's the way to do it."

Report: McLaren

to join Nats' staff

Former Mariners manager John McLaren will be hired as a bench coach by the Washington Nationals, according to a report in The Washington Times.

The hiring of McLaren, 58, will be the first staff change since Jim Riggleman took over as permanent manager of the Nationals.

It is a role reversal, as McLaren hired Riggleman as bench coach of the Mariners in 2007. McLaren was 68-88 as manager of the Mariners before being fired in June 2008.

McLaren was replaced by Riggleman, who went 36-54 as manager of the M's. McLaren will take over for Pat Corrales, who is expected to stay with the Nationals in another capacity, the paper reported.

Note

• Sandy Alomar Jr., a former All-Star catcher in Cleveland, has been hired by first-year Indians manager Manny Acta as a first-base coach.