Hey Billy Beane, Where's the A's Offense?

Dear Billy Beane,

As an A's fan, I can definitely say it's been great to see all these great pitchers developed through the system, staring with Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder and continuing with Barry Zito, Joe Blanton, Dan Haren, Rich Harden, Justin Duchscherer, and beyond. Because the pitching has been great, the A's have been able to afford trading for prospects and younger pitchers. The only pitcher for whom we didn't get any prospects was Zito and his free-agent departure, which still earned the team some compensatory draft picks.

Now, onto my point. You have been absolutely horrible developing the A's offense. Since 2000, the team went from scoring 941 runs to the mid 700s last year. The only pickup that has resembled anything good was Frank Thomas. However, Beane didn't even bother re-signing him, even after he led the team in home runs and RBI.

So in 2007, when the A's needed a power hitter, you made a trade for Jack Cust. While Cust had an excellent start with the A's, he has struggled in his second year because the team does not have an offense to work with. They have a minor-league club offensively, and it's pathetic.

Ty Van Burkleo has done nothing to help the A's hitters. It's time to fire Van Burkleo and get somebody who knows what the actual meaning of a hitting coach is. It's to fix swings, help them make better contact with the ball, help them center the ball, etc. Yet, the A's have no one to do it.

Here's a thought: How about putting some genius in putting together a whole team instead of just the pitching staff? The biggest mistake was not signing Milton Bradley when he was a free agent. Instead, he went to the Rangers and became an All-Star.

You acquired some promising positional players in return for Blanton and Harden; make sure they pan out, and continue to focus on building a better lineup. Because what's the point of good pitching if the team can't score runs to back it up?

Sincerely,

Steven Resnick