Editor's note: Yahoo! Sports will examine the offseason of every MLB team before spring training begins in mid-February. Our series continues with the Oakland A's.



MLB Springboards: No. 30 Astros | No. 29 Marlins | No. 28 Mets | No. 27 Rockies | No. 26 Twins | No. 25 Pirates | No. 24 Indians | No. 23 Mariners | No. 22 Padres | No. 21 Cubs | No. 20 Brewers | No. 19 Red Sox | No. 18 White Sox | No. 17 Royals | No. 16 Orioles | No. 15 Phillies | No. 14 Diamondbacks

2012 record: 94-68

Finish: First, AL West

2012 final payroll: $59.5 million

Estimated 2013 opening day payroll: $60 million

Yahoo! Sports offseason rank: 13

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OFFSEASON ACTION

So, following one of the strangest, most ridiculous, perfectly implausible, pie-in-the-face baseball seasons to ever roll down Hegenberger Road, a 6 1/2-month ride chauffeured by the ghost of a dancing dead guy, a question arises: Are the Oakland A's sustainable?

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At $60 million per? In the ferocious AL West? In a dark and craggy football stadium of a ballpark? Hoisted by young arms? Powered largely by no-names?

Well, sure.

This was the ballclub – the roster – Billy Beane had sought for several years. Longer, perhaps. It simply arrived a season or two before anyone expected, and then buried the Los Angeles Angels and shocked the Texas Rangers. The A's had come 20 wins from the season before, and miles farther, becoming the return on Gio Gonzalez, Trevor Cahill, Andrew Bailey, even Jason Kendall. The draft was running 13 and 24 rounds deep. The waiver wire was fertile. And a go-for-broke $36 million landed a Cuban outfielder.

It wouldn't all work, but enough did, and now comes the season that was supposed to be somewhat promising and instead arrives in defense of a division title. Yeah, and a dead guy dances.

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Nine days after falling to Justin Verlander and the Detroit Tigers in Game 5 of the division series, Beane and assistant David Forst acquired center fielder Chris Young from the Arizona Diamondbacks. The trade bolstered depth in the outfield/designated hitter rotation that should include Yoenis Cespedes, Seth Smith, Coco Crisp, Josh Reddick and, now, Young.

Further, the A's signed Japanese shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima (as Stephen Drew signed in Boston and Cliff Pennington went to Arizona in the Young deal), re-signed Bartolo Colon, and jumped into the Mike Morse three-way trade to come away with Seattle catcher John Jaso.

REALITY CHECK

Among the remarkable threads in the A's narrative was the role of the rookie starting pitchers. By the time the club was finishing a 51-25 second half and had overcome a five-game deficit with nine games to play, rookies had taken the ball in the A's' last 14 games, 22 of their last 24 games and 76 of their final 104 games. By then, Brandon McCarthy was recovering from a beaning, Bartolo Colon had become Exhibit A in the You-Never-Know drug tussle and Brett Anderson was having oblique (muscle, not sideways) issues.

Along came Jarrod Parker, Tommy Milone, Dan Straily, A.J. Griffin, Travis Blackley and what seemed like a tiny miracle a night. The return of Colon and a healthy Anderson (who rallied back to pitch six shutout innings in Game 3 of the division series) means the A's won't go all sophomores in '13. But we've seen the birth of a potentially dominating and enduring young starting rotation that should be the best in the AL West in '13.

Story continues