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A snippet from Robothal's latest:

The A's also had a better run differential [than the Tigers] before losing 10-3 to the Rangers on Monday night.

Run differential reflects a team's underlying strengths and weaknesses, and often is a strong predictor of future performance.

The A's are not just a September flash. They're 34-30 since the All- Star break, and entered Monday's play ranked fourth in the AL in runs per game during that time.

The increased offense is a surprise; left fielder Matt Holliday is gone, and Adam Kennedy's .767 OPS is the highest among the remaining A's with enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title.

While the team lacks above-average offensive players, its young pitching remains the envy of most clubs. The emergence of rookie shortstop Cliff Pennington, a gifted defender who is hitting better than expected, should end any talk about the A's bringing back Orlando Cabrera as a free agent.

I picked the Athletics to win the West this season. They're going to finish last. Nevertheless, their recent solid play does make me feel a bit better about my prediction ... Maybe I was just a few months off!

I'm afraid I'm not yet to the point of long-term optimism, though. The A's are last in the American League in slugging percentage, and I don't see how they do much better next season. At 33, Kennedy is enjoying his best season since 2002 (and isn't signed for 2010 anyway). Rajai Davis is hitting better than he's ever hit before. Jack Cust might bounce back some next season, but then again he might not (he's 30). Pennington seems to have finally arrived, but he probably can't maintain these numbers next year.

Oh, and that young pitching? Rookie Andrew Bailey is 25, and figures to be a fine closer for some years. Dallas Braden is 25, and what he lacks in strikeouts he makes up for in (lack of) home runs (this season, anyway). Brett Anderson is 21, and has done everything you could want a 21-year-old pitcher to do. Because he's so young and so cheap and so good, he might be one of the dozen most valuable pitchers in the American League, right now.

But that's it. Just those three. The A's have other young pitchers, of course, but they're all more intriguing than good. Which means next season will begin much as this one did, with management trying to sort out which of the young pitchers can pitch and which ones can't.

The long-term prognosis is fairly positive, because the A's do have a lot of young players, many of whom are, or will become, pretty decent major leaguers. But they need a couple of BIG talents in the lineup, and at the moment there aren't any extant candidates.