Ricciardi basically came in with a plan based on how the A's were operating at the time, executed it, and found out that what worked in the AL West didn't work in the AL East. AA had/has a plan, has so far (by all appearances) executed it, and it's yet to be determined whether it will work or not. The one big difference that I see is that AA seems to be more flexible with the plan (evidenced by the pen this year).