Baseball Talk: The Oakland A's & the Media

So I recently read an article on cnnsi.com about the 2005 Oakland A's. Jacob Luft's article, entitled Chatter Up, is a short write-up about the Oakland A's and Atlanta Braves. Luft predicts the A's will do "not much" come playoff time. After reading this, I had to catch my breath and grab a glass of water. How could anyone say the hottest team in baseball, on 47-16 tear through the majors, will fail to produce come playoff time. I looked for Luft's explanation, and what I found just about made me laugh. Luft preceded to support his hypothesis with the most inaccurate data, stating "history" as proof that the A's will lose. HE lists the A's 0-4 record from 200-2003. Well, it is 2005 now folks, and last time I checked, the A's have a much different team. None of the current A's starters were on the 2000 squad, and Barry Zito is the oldest A's veteran, playing since 2001. The 4 other starters are all new and young. The staffs that lost in the playoffs had guys like Mark Mulder, Tim Hudson, and Kevin Appier. Good players? Sure (maybe not Appier), but older and injury prone. The new young pitchers have not shown any injury problems through the first two-thirds of the season, and put up good numbers.
The bullpen has changed, instead of Jim Mecir and Chad Bradford (whom I remember giving up many a heart-breaking homeruns), the A's have young talent in All-Star Justin Duchscherer and stud rookie closer Huston Street who holds an intimidating 1.31 era and 13 saves in 17 chances. Think thats impressive, how about 50 strikeouts in 55 innings. As for the lineup, there is no more Terrence Long, Ramon Hernandez, Ray Durham, Jermaine Dye, Eric Byrnes, Esteban German, and Frank Menechino. I know, that sucks, J Dye used to watch some pretty called third strikes blow by him. Once again, young talent that won't break down at the end of the year (cough...Hatteberg...cough...Durazo...). Dan Johnson has emerged as a legit hitter, posting a .366 average and .448 obp. since the All-Star break. Nick Swisher leads AL rookies in home runs (18) and rbi's (65). With strong veterans in Eric Chavez, Jason Kendall, and Mark Kotsay, as well as suprise newcomer Jay Payton (acquired through trade), the A's look to be the perfect mix young and old players. Lastly, Luft states that if the A's do advance to the playoffs, they will struggle against the powerful AL teams. The A's have a better record and a more attractive pitching staff to compete with the Yankees or Red Sox in the first round. As for the juggernaut White Sox, the Oakland is 7-2 this year agains them, with a nice sweep of the Sox in Chi-town. So what seems more convincing, the stats, or history?