17 rookies. Need I say more?

The 2012 Oakland Athletics have 17 rookies on their playoff-contending roster, including all five of their starting pitchers.

With a week left in the season, the Athletics are in a position to make the playoffs as the second wild card team. Sure there have been some surprises this year like Baltimore and Washington, but Oakland? Really?

I wish I had the answers and could tell you why this team is in contention this late in the year, but I don’t. I’ve stared at these stats for about three days now trying to figure out how they have a better record then teams like the Tampa Bay Rays and, well, the whole American League Central division.

The only conclusion I can come up with is one name: Billy Beane.

Beane and his sabermetrics strategy have compiled a team with 17 rookies, the result of making a couple of what could be termed “questionable” moves in the offseason. Those trades were supposed to help the Athletics build for the future, but they’ve paid great dividends already, making Oakland a playoff contender.

In December, Beane started by trading the ace of the pitching staff in Trevor Cahill to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Just 12 days later, he traded his No. 2 pitcher, Gio Gonzalez, to the Washington Nationals. A week afterwards, Beane shipped his all-star closer, Andrew Bailey, to the Boston Red Sox.

In return, Oakland got 10 players from the three teams, including names like Jarrod Parker, Ryan Cook, Tommy Milone and Josh Reddick.

Three of the four are rookies. As for the fourth, he might as well be a rookie, seeing as this is the first season he’s seen consistent playing time.

Parker and Cook both made their major league debuts late in the 2011 season for the Diamondbacks. Cook had 12 appearances out of the bullpen while Parker made just one start.

This year for Oakland, Parker has made 28 starts after being called up from Triple-A in April. He’s posted a 12-8 record with an earned run average of 3.44 while Cook has split the save opportunities in his first full season with veteran Grant Balfour. Cook has closed out 14 games while setting up 18 more in the eighth inning for Balfour in the ninth.

Prior to coming to Oakland, Milone made five starts for the Washington Nationals down the stretch of the 2011 season. Similar to Parker, Milone has had a largely successful first full campaign in 2012, posting 13 wins in 30 starts and a 3.74 ERA.

As for Josh Reddick, he’s not really a rookie, but he doesn’t have a lot of experience. However, he’s provided the power in the middle of the otherwise lackluster Oakland lineup.

In three years going back and forth between the Red Sox and their minor league team, the Pawtucket Red Sox, Reddick played in 143 games with just 10 home runs. But with just one season in Oakland, Reddick has blasted 31 home runs, which leads the team. He’s also knocked in 81 runs, which also leads the team.

So what have we learned? The starting rotation is really young with an incredibly small amount of experience between the five. Heck, they’ve only had 103 starts combined in the major leagues. There are many active pitchers that have made more then that. As for the lineup, well, that’s nothing to write home about.

Even with the young rotation though, that’s what has carried this team through the season. Overall, they have the fifth best ERA in the league and sixth best batting average against. That could have something to do with teams facing new pitchers night in and night out, but whatever it is, it’s impressive.

Now with the season coming to an end, the question arises: Can the team comprised of mostly rookies keep up their magical run through the postseason? (That’s if they hold on to the final spot.)

My answer: I don’t really have one…we’ll just have to wait and see. There is talent on this team. It’s just young and relatively inexperienced talent. If Griffin can fix the struggles he’s had over his last two starts, this team could to be dangerous in the playoffs as long as the offense can score just enough runs to support the pitching staff.

If there’s one thing we’ve learned from the Oakland Athletics and specifically Billy Beane though, it’s to never question anymore. Who knows what Billy will do this offseason. Maybe Cook, Milone, Parker and Reddick will go. I’m guessing that wont be the case, but whatever happens in the Bay Area this offseason, I will no longer wonder what was going through Billy Beane’s mind.