1 Oakland Athletics

Give self-styled efficiency expert Billy Beane an extra $10 million to play with--which A's owners did this winter--and he can roll the dice as well as a flush big league general manager. Beane, in his ninth season as Oakland's G.M., enjoyed the first off-season in memory in which he lost no player worth keeping and instead made key additions to his club.

So where did the money go? To a 34-year-old journeyman pitcher ( Esteban Loaiza) who embellished his slacker reputation by showing up late for his first day in an A's uniform; a 27-year-old outfielder ( Milton Bradley) whose act grew tired in three other organizations; and a 37-year-old DH ( Frank Thomas) who was pegged by his former G.M. as "an idiot" and "selfish." It may be the clubhouse equivalent of a sodium-nitrate stockpile, but Beane is unconcerned. "Chemistry," he says, "is a by-product of winning."

O.K., so maybe Loaiza merely was unlucky when, as he told Oakland officials, the cellphone he uses as an alarm clock failed to work on the first day of training camp. In 2005 Loaiza parlayed only the second 200-inning season of his career into a three-year, $21.4 million jackpot. Maybe, too, Bradley really is misunderstood, though the Expos, Indians and Dodgers all gave up on him.

Thomas ($500,000 guaranteed plus up to another $2.6 million in incentives) brings his own baggage to the A's clubhouse. When Thomas lamented in February that the White Sox cut him loose without proper respect, Chicago G.M. Kenny Williams unloaded his pent-up anger, saying, "We don't miss the attitude; we don't miss the whining. Good riddance." More problematic for Oakland is likely to be the health of a 275-pound man who turns 38 in May. Thomas missed two thirds of his team's games over the past two years with fractures in his left ankle and was unable to run all off-season. Thomas said he plans to be ready for Opening Day and will hit "between .285 and .305," though he hasn't batted better than .271 since 2000. He's been a .257 hitter over the last five seasons.

As he has aged, however, Thomas has grown into more of a pure power hitter. In those five years he averaged 30 dingers for every 125 games--numbers that would be accepted gladly by a club that last year had the fewest home runs (11) and total bases (199) out of the DH position in the league.

The disclaimer to Beane's experiment is that the team should not revolve around Loaiza, Bradley and Thomas. The G.M. views them more as complementary players with the potential to have big seasons. Loaiza, for instance, is ensconced in the No. 4 spot in the rotation behind 20-something studs Rich Harden, Barry Zito, Dan Haren and Joe Blanton (who went a combined 27-16 after the All-Star break last year).

Far more important to Oakland's success are Harden, the toughest starter to hit in the league last year (.201); budding superstar shortstop Bobby Crosby; and closer Huston Street, the AL Rookie of the Year who has a filthy repertoire of pitches.

So deep are the A's that Beane assigned assistant G.M. David Forst to run a statistical analysis to figure out how a full season of plate appearances (about 6,000) can be divided among so many frontline-caliber players. Each game Oakland will have to sit two players from among Bradley, Mark Kotsay, Nick Swisher, Jay Payton, Bobby Kielty, Dan Johnson and Thomas. (Some combination from the seven will fill the outfield, first base and DH spots.) The A's also have Kirk Saarloos, Joe Kennedy and Jay Witasick as starting-pitching insurance. "If we stay healthy," catcher Jason Kendall says, "this team is as good as anybody else."

Oakland should win at least 88 games for a seventh consecutive season, a run only the Swingin' A's from 1969 through '75 have accomplished in franchise history. Unlike those three-time world champions, though, these A's have yet to win a postseason series, losing all nine games when they were one win away from advancing. Hang on to your safety goggles--this edition appears better built for a longer, if not more chaotic, run.

IN FACT
Oakland DHs were last in the AL in home runs with 11, in 656 plate appearances. As a DH with the White Sox last year, Frank Thomas hit 11 home runs in just 118 trips to the plate.