With all the furor over the ailing free-agent market during the offseason, the A’s have stood off to the side, watching the Players Association and Major League Baseball bicker over other teams behaving exactly as the A’s do annually.

Low payrolls are Oakland’s modus operandi — perhaps you’ll recall the book and movie “Moneyball” about the A’s ability to do more with less — and the team seldom chases even medium-priced free agents. Now, much of baseball is under fire for similar tactics because nearly 100 free agents remain unsigned, including big names such as Jake Arrieta, Eric Hosmer and J.D. Martinez.

“I can’t speak for other teams, but I know for us, this scenario is not much different than it’s been for a number of years as we push for a new stadium,” A’s vice president of baseball operations Billy Beane said. “It’s individual with each team. Our situation is just not having the resources — it’s the same as it’s always been, revenue is a challenge. Whatever we have is what we spend.”

Because of concerns that Oakland wasn’t spending its revenue-sharing check two years ago, the team is losing its revenue-sharing payout over a four-year stretch. The A’s are spending even less now, with a payroll that hovers just over $60 million despite receiving about $20 million in revenue sharing, plus a $50 million payout to each team for the sale of BAMTech, a division of MLB Advanced Media that was sold to Disney.

A number of clubs are taking a similar approach. Union chief Tony Clark accused teams of trying to “race to the bottom” and agents Brodie Van Wagenen and Scott Boras have blasted teams for failing to compete. Commissioner Rob Manfred responded that agents are overvaluing their players, and noted that several teams are going through “multiyear strategies.”

The A’s are one of them, concentrating on a rebuild that was under way well before the current free-agent flap. And other clubs also are trying to go the route that worked so well for recent champs Houston, the Cubs and the Royals: strip things down, focus on the draft and prospects, and go young.

Other teams at the top of the spending heap are leery of crossing the $197 million luxury-tax threshold.

“There’s a tax some clubs are aware of, and there’s also what the Astros have done and before them the Cubs and Royals,” Beane said. “I’m sure that’s part of it. Sports is very copycat: Whatever succeeds, people will try.”

With their typical low budget, the A’s weren’t going to dive into the expensive end of the free-agent market, anyway. They signed reliever Yusmeiro Petit to a two-year, $10 million deal early in the offseason, and recently offered the same deal to reliever Brian Duensing, who rejected it, taking $3 million less from the Cubs. A one-year offer to outfielder Austin Jackson also did not materialize; he went to the Giants on a two-year deal.

That’s pretty much it when it comes to non-trade acquisitions for Oakland, which seldom ventures into pricey winter deals, with the exception of the three-year, $30 million contract handed Billy Butler three years ago — a move that backfired.

With the A’s shopping essentially done, Beane was able to indulge his love for soccer last week, spending four days in Holland, where he’s an adviser to the AZ Alkmaar team. And in December, he became a minority investor in Barnsley, which plays in the second-tier Championship League in England.

“It’s no secret that soccer has been an interest of mine for 15 or 16 years, and I’ve enjoyed serving on the board in Holland,” said Beane, who also owns a small percentage of the A’s. “It’s really just a passion — I’m not involved in management.”

Beane is following the club on his phone and watching matches on TV when possible, but he doesn’t have any team gear yet and he has yet to visit Barnsley, which is in Yorkshire.

“I’m not sure when I will go see them,” Beane said. “We’re getting ready to crank things up here for next season.”

Susan Slusser is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sslusser@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @susanslusser