Top Choice: Oakland's Michael Choice has a bright future ahead of him. (Photo Credit: MiLB.com/AP)

The Oakland Athletics have the pitching talent to win ballgames. We know that much already. What the A’s don’t have, at least on the major league level, is the offense to help support that strong starting pitching.

When the Athletics decided to tear apart their team by trading away favorites Dan Haren and Nick Swisher following the 2007 season, fans knew the team was entering a rebuilding phase. Some called it a youth movement led by general manager Billy Beane, and some criticized the fallout that usually comes with a rebuilding process. For Oakland, a team that advanced to the ALCS in 2006, losing seasons in ’07, ’08, and ’09 hit the team’s small fan-base pretty hard.

Oakland acquired some much needed pitching during those seasons, but while the team now features youngster Brett Anderson, Trevor Cahill, and Gio Gonzalez, the Athletics haven’t been able to match that type of talent on the offensive side. So it’s to no one’s surprise that the Athletics have been searching for players that will ultimately help the team offensively in the years to come.

Over the past few seasons, Oakland has drafted some pretty decent hitters in an attempt to reverse their offensive woes. Grant Green and Michael Choice come to mind, and since I’ve already covered Green in the past, I’ll talk more about Choice, who has been putting up solid numbers for Oakland’s Single-A affiliate.  (more…)