Joe Maddon compares the Athletics offense to his own Rays offense favorably after Oakland wins the first game of their series 4-3:

The A’s have a .257 average to the Rays’ .253, a 3.55 ERA to the Rays’ 3.62 and a .984 fielding percentage to the Rays’ .986.

Of course, those are on-the-surface numbers. The disparity is more evident when considering the Rays are well ahead in runs (608-483), homers (112-72) and walks (506-372).

Good job by John Shea pointing out the numbers that really matter. Of course, the Rays are what Oakland is supposed to be. They’re a small market club that leveraged good draft picks into a club with good, young, cheap talent. Oakland has that on the pitching side, but for the last few seasons they haven’t developed the offense to go with it.