As the saying goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same. After a four-year hiatus, the Oakland Athletics are once again a playoff team. Given the incredibly low payrolls under which A's boss Billy Beane is forced by ownership to operate, their runs of success in the regular season are downright remarkable. 

  • From 2000-2003, the A's made the playoffs.
  • They missed the postseason in 2004-05, but returned in '06. 
  • After five years out of the postseason, the 2012 A's were 37-42 through June. They would go 57-26 the rest of the way to steal the AL West title from the Rangers in historic fashion.
  • The A's also made the playoffs in 2013 and 2014.
  • They would miss the playoffs the next three seasons.

Given how things go with this franchise, we were wise to expect a return here either this year or next. I called them a "sneaky sleeper" in my preseason power rankings and R.J. Anderson noted they were on the cusp of contention in his preview. 

Sure enough, here they are. Another Billy Beane special. The A's are 95-62 and headed to the postseason. This came after opening the season with the lowest payroll and being 34-36 on June 15. They were ELEVEN games back of the second wild card at that point. Since then, the A's came together and went 61-26. This was like 2012, only better. 

One of the biggest mainstream misconceptions of "Moneyball" is that the A's focus on specific stats (like on-base percentage in the book/movie). It's actually about a team that is either willing or unable (we'll leave this part aside for now) to go with a larger payroll finding market inefficiencies. 

This time around, Beane and company built a powerful offense with a good defense while patching together a pitching staff of castaways. He did so with savvy trades, cheap signings of players no one else wanted and through the draft. 

Position players

Khris Davis was acquired from the Brewers in 2016 for Bubba Derby and Jacob Nottingham and has now hit 131 home runs and counting in three seasons. Jed Lowrie was acquired from the Astros in 2015 for Brendan McCurry. The Cardinals sent Stephen Piscotty over last offseason for Max Schrock and Yairo Munoz. Marcus Semien came over in a deal from the White Sox. Mark Canha was acquired from the Rockies for Austin House. Nick Martini was signed on a minor-league deal this past offseason. Ramon Laureano was acquired last offseason for Brandon Bailey. 

Matt Olson (47th overall in 2012), Matt Chapman (25th overall in 2014) and Chad Pinder (second round in 2013) were drafted and developed. 

This group is currently second in the AL in home runs, fourth in runs and third in slugging percentage despite playing home games in a pitchers' park. Led by elite defensive third baseman Chapman (28 defensive runs saved, 3.4 dWAR), the A's are the top defensive team in baseball by defensive efficiency, converting 71.7 percent of balls in play into outs. 

Starting rotation

A number of injuries during the spring and the regular season sent Beane to the scrap heap and, boy, has it turned out spectacularly. Should the A's advance past the Wild Card Game, the four-man playoff rotation would likely be: 

  • Mike Fiers, who was acquired on Aug. 6 for two players to be named later. 
  • Edwin Jackson, who was signed to a minor-league deal on June 6 after the Nationals released him.
  • Brett Anderson, who the A's signed on March 22 and started the season in Triple-A. 
  • Trevor Cahill, who signed with the A's on March 19. 
  • Or they could sub out Anderson or Cahill for an opener/Daniel Mengden combo. Mengden came over with Nottingham in 2015 for Scott Kazmir. 

Bullpen

Blake Treinen has a 0.80 ERA, 0.82 WHIP and 97 strikeouts in 78 1/3 innings this season. He joined the club when the A's traded Ryan Madson and Sean Doolittle to the Nats last year. 

Lou Trivino was an 11th round pick in 2013. Yusmeiro Petit is on a two-year, $10 million deal. Jeurys Familia cost the A's so little in prospect currency that a prospects expert suggested the Wilpon family should be forced to sell the Mets. Fernando Rodney cost the A's a Class A swingman. Shawn Kelley only cost a little bit of money, since the Nationals were mad at him for slamming down his glove in frustration. Ryan Buchter came over in an under-the-radar offseason trade with the Royals. 

And on and on it goes. 

The A's have won 95 games after starting the season with the lowest payroll in baseball. They have made no big splash moves to build this team, either in free agency or via trade. None of their homegrown players contributing at this point were drafted higher than 25th overall. 

This was a true team effort. From Billy Beane to GM David Forst, farm director Keith Lieppman, scouting director Eric Kubota, manager Bob Melvin and all the players involved. This A's season, like so many before, is truly a sum-of-the-parts operation and something other poor/cheap teams fan bases can aspire to seeing one day. 

The one thing missing on Beane's resume remains, though, and that's a run to the World Series. Perhaps this group can be the one that breaks through. What a story that would be. 

For now, the A's celebrate an outstanding regular season.