The Oakland Athletics spent the offseason looking to make up the difference between a second-place finish in the AL West and the defending American League champions.

The A’s were that second-place team last season, going 81-81 in a respectable season. Nine games in front of them were the Texas Rangers, winners of the division who went on to capture their first pennant and play in the World Series.

It has been 21 years since Oakland graced baseball’s grandest stage. And, while not many people are pegging the A’s for late-October glory this season, there is reason to think this year’s team is better. The A’s were active in the offseason, bolstering their power with the likes of Hideki Matsui and Josh Willingham.

Oakland’s pitching looks to be strong. Right-hander Trevor Cahill will get the nod on opening day. Brett Anderson, Gio Gonzalez and Dallas Braden, who fired a perfect game last season, will round out the top four.

Oakland opens its season at home against Seattle on April 1. After that initial three-game series, the A’s hit the road for a nine-game road trip to Toronto, Minnesota and Chicago.

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Fuentes said he was told that Andrew Bailey would remain the closer and that he was fine with that arrangement.

However, the A’s certainly aren’t upset that they now essentially have two closers in their bullpen.

Should anything ever happen to Bailey, Fuentes could easily step in and become the club’s closer.

The team also signed right-handed reliever Grant Balfour, adding further depth to the revamped bullpen.

He is expected to serve as the team’s designated hitter and was pleased by how strongly Oakland wanted him to be a part of their team.

The team is hopeful that Matsui’s signing will help attract fans back to the ballpark to pump up declining attendance.

The 36-year old has a blend of power and the ability to hit for a high batting average that made him attractive to the A’s.

Matsui got off to a slow start last year with the Los Angeles Angels but finished strong in the second half.

This is the same elbow that Sheets had to have surgery on back in 2009, causing him to miss an entire baseball season.

The injury is being termed an elbow strain, and it comes at a bad time as the right-hander has pitched much better over the past several starts.

The A’s were possibly looking to trade Sheets before the July 31 deadline, but that is no longer a possibility.

It is the seventh time Sheets has landed on the disabled list in his career and he will likely be out for a significant period of time.

On the strength of three home runs, the A’s out-slugged the host Kansas City Royals, 9-6, to finish off a three-game sweep.

Adam Rosales, Kevin Kouzmanoff and Jack Cust all went yard, giving the A’s their fifth straight win overall and bringing the club back to .500. The offense gave starting pitcher Vince Mazzaro all the cushion he needed and more. He pitched into the eighth inning, surrendering one run and striking out five, bumping his record to 5-2 on the year.

The aforementioned middle of the Oakland lineup combined to drive in seven of the team’s nine runs. They chased Kansas City starting pitcher Brian Bannister, tagging him for five runs and taking advantage of his wildness. He issued six walks while striking out just two batters.

Scoring runs is still a challenge for Oakland, but they continue to get good pitching out of their starters and bullpen.

Dallas Braden has led the charge in the starting rotation, with his perfect game being the highlight of the first half of the season.

Gio Gonzalez has steadily improved, and Andrew Bailey has been almost unhittable as the team’s closer.

Rajai Davis has given the offense a spark with his speed on the basepaths, which is rare to see from a Billy Beane team.

He threw 109 pitches, 77 for strikes, while striking out six batters.

The feat was especially heartfelt and special for Braden because he accomplished it on Mother’s Day.

Braden could be seen after the game in tears with his grandmother. His mother passed away from skin cancer while he was in high school.

He said that it hadn’t been a pleasant day for him for some time, but he finally had a happy memory.

The best way to describe the first month of the season for the Oakland A’s? Streaky.

Four times in the first month of the season, the A’s put together four streaks of at least three games in a row. At the end of the month, it ended with Oakland riding a four-game losing streak and finishing April at 12-12.

Oakland rebounded on the opening day of May, winning 4-3 at Toronto to improve to 13-12 and staying ½ game ahead of Texas in the AL West.

After losing on opening day to Seattle, the A’s ran off four consecutive wins. Following three consecutive victories over Baltimore in the middle of the month, Oakland sat at 9-4 on the season. Then, the A’s lost three straight games.

Oakland rebounded to win three of four, then dropped four in a row to end the month, giving up 10 runs each in two of the losses.

Pitching has led the way to this point. Both Dallas Braden and Gio Gonzalez are 3-1. Justin Duchscherer is 2-1 with a 2.89 ERA. Rajai Davis’ 11 stolen bases highlight the offense.

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Crisp, whom Oakland considered a key offseason acquisition, was enjoying a great spring before suffering the injury. He was batting .432 with two home runs and eight RBI, appearing eager to take advantage of the opportunity with the A’s after struggling with Kansas City last year in another season cut short by injury.

Oakland still has burner Rajai Davis patrolling center field, but Crisp was part of a shift in strategy for the team that concentrates more on speed and aggressiveness on the base paths. Without him, it will be interesting to see if that thinking changes.

Chavez was once one of the game’s emerging stars, but a number of injuries have derailed his career.

His back problems have been notorious, but the Athletics are hopeful a position change could be the remedy.

Third base is a much more demanding position than first base and also requires a lot more work.

The team is most concerned about keeping Chavez healthy and his big bat in the lineup, so look for first base to become his new position.