Yankees Beware: The A's Just Clinched

The majority of baseball experts right now are picking the Yankees to represent the American League in the World Series this October. I've even spoken to a few disgruntled Red Sox fans who have begrudgingly admitted this (through much grinding of teeth and pulling of hair). As a Yankees fan, of course I agree with all this. However, there is one team that could be more annoying to the Yankees than revenue sharing -- the Oakland A's.

The A's clinched the AL West last night with a 12-3 waxing of lowly Seattle, but don't look at their offense. The lineup is competent, with power guys Frank Thomas (38 HR, 109 RBI through Wednesday) and Nick Swisher (34, 91), but it's really their pitching that carries the team. With Rich Harden finally healthy, Oakland boasts the closest thing to this year's White Sox pitching. The postseason staff will likely consist of Barry Zito, Dan Haren and Esteban Loaiza. That still leaves 16-win starter Joe Blanton in the bullpen to go with closer Huston Street (36 saves) and a core of Moneyball guys nobody on the East Coast has ever heard of, led by Justin Duchscherer.

Outside the Yanks and A's, every other playoff team lacks in some aspect. The Twins lost All-Star pitcher Francisco Liriano; the Tigers have virtually no experience and a boatload of tired young arms; the Mets have questions surrounding their aces Pedro Martinez and Tom Glavine, and the rest of the NL couldn't win the Little League World Series. That leaves two teams with a fighter's chance at winning it all this year in Oakland and New York. The only problem is they need to go through each other.