Oakland Athletics' Increasing Need For a Power Bat

The Minnesota Twins completed their sweep of the Oakland Athletics Sunday afternoon, with a 4-2 victory in which the A’s did not get a hit until the eighth inning. The A’s (57-59) have lost five of their last six games and their need for an additional bat is more prevalent than ever.

The A’s lack of a power hitter has been well documented, but that does not ease the frustration of the fans. They see a team with strong starting pitching and bullpen depth, but they're fed up with their team's poor batting.

Oakland always has strong pitching, but year after year the lack of a bat hurts the A’s.

Fans were optimistic about prospect Chris Carter, and while he may be as good as advertised, he is off to a slow start and has yet to record his first major-league hit. He is young and will hopefully show talent once he gets his first hit and is able to relax.

However, Carter may not be the only solution.

The A’s need a presence and a threat in their lineup. When opposing pitchers look at the Oakland lineup, they see no legitimate threat to hit the ball out of the park.

The A’s pitchers are good enough to keep the A’s in the game, but they can only do so much. The Athletics’ offense has produced two runs or fewer in four of the last six games. No matter how good a pitching staff may be, you cannot expect them to throw shutouts every night.

The problem with the A’s is that GM Billy Beane has been reluctant to get a power hitter for multiple years. Anytime they acquire a power hitter, he is gone at either the trade deadline or the end of the season.

Beane has proven that he is a great evaluator of pitching talent, but has not proven that he can evaluate hitters. He has continued to guess wrong on which hitting prospects he keeps and which he trades away.

If the A’s want to get back to the postseason for the first time since 2006, they will need to sign a proven power hitter during the offseason. The pitching staff is good enough to take the team to October, but they receive no help from the offense.

This needs to change or else the A’s will continue to be a mediocre team with little to no fan support and little to no revenue.