I don't know if you read the book (Moneyball) but the main point that I took away from it was that the Oakland A's roster was made to win games.
The whole point of the book was that winning games was done by getting on base and the people who get on base more were better to have on a team than someone who was good at fielding (which the book said didn't matter).
The reason the playoffs were such a crapshoot wasn't because Oakland had a worse defense or pitchers but because the amount of games being played was so small that the results could go either way. as the teams in the playoffs were generally of similar quality.
The whole point of the book was that winning games was done by getting on base and the people who get on base more were better to have on a team than someone who was good at fielding (which the book said didn't matter).
The reason the playoffs were such a crapshoot wasn't because Oakland had a worse defense or pitchers but because the amount of games being played was so small that the results could go either way. as the teams in the playoffs were generally of similar quality.