Posted By Jeff Fletcher on September 22, 2009 10:17 am

I’ve got a story over at FanHouse today on the future of the A’s, in light of their hot finish to this season. The money quote, so to speak, comes from Billy Beane, when he says the A’s are going to take a conservative approach to getting the A’s to the next step. In other words, they won’t be making any big deals over the winter.

“We’d look to add some guys, but we’re going to be very disciplined,” Beane said. “We’re trying to build something. We’re not going to go crazy in the offseason.”

So you can forget about sticking Jason Bay in the middle of the A’s lineup next year. Any reasonable A’s fan probably already realized that the cash-strapped team wasn’t likely to become big spenders (even though they have practically no one making any serious money next year). It seems that Beane likes the direction of the young guys on the roster now, and he’s going to let them keep playing, while waiting for the next wave (Chris Carter, Brett Wallace, Adrian Cardenas).

Based on my discussions with Beane, here’s how I think the 2010 stack up.

C: Kurt Suzuki, obviously.

1B: Anyone’s guess. Maybe Daric Barton. Maybe Sean Doolittle. Maybe Chris Carter. Maybe some filler player from outside the organization. I don’t see this spot being settled until either Carter or Wallace is ready to be planted here every day.

2B: Mark Ellis.

SS: Cliff Pennington. The A’s like what they’ve seen on Pennington. A scout I talked to also likes him as an everyday player on a good club (translation: a team that doesn’t need its shortstop to be an impact player offensively).

3B: Another tough one. Wouldn’t surprise me if Adam Kennedy is back on a one-year deal or one-plus-an-option. In either case, he’d be a filler until Wallace (or maybe Cardenas) is ready to play there in the long-term. Kennedy is a nice guy to have around because he can play a few positions and he can handle the bat.

LF: Here is a spot where the A’s vision and mine seem to differ. My impression is the A’s would be happy with Scott Hairston out there. I don’t know why else they would have traded for him unless they viewed him as an everyday player in 2010. To me, though, Hairston is not an everyday player. He’s a solid fourth outfielder. This is the spot where the A’s could add someone, if they were so inclined. Like Jason Bay! Just kidding.

CF: Rajai Davis has earned the right to open 2010 with this being his job to lose. He has done absolutely everything the A’s could have asked him, and then some. He’s 29, so you may be skeptical whether a guy who took this long to figure it out has really figured it out, or if he’s just a mirage. We’ll find out.

RF: Ryan Sweeney. I had been a little skeptical about Sweeney, because he’s the classic ‘tweener. He’s not good enough defensively to be a center fielder and not good enough offensively to be a corner guy. However, he is only 24, so he’s young enough to get some benefit of the doubt that he’ll still improve, and develop some more power. I’m skeptical, but hey, that’s me.

DH: While Jack Cust has been a nice little story the past few years, he’s arbitration-eligible again, so the nice little story is going to get more expensive. Next year Cust will be due $4 million or more. It seems the A’s can probably find someone else who is either better or cheaper. The A’s also might not want to tie themselves to a player they aren’t sure about for this spot, because it could prove to be Carter’s only position. Eric Chavez (remember him?) also might end up coming back and needing to DH. My guess is Cust will be non-tendered or traded.

Rotation: The A’s have got plenty of choices, and my guess is they just stick with these guys, perhaps adding one veteran presence, or re-signing Brett Tomko to be that guy. (Remember, last winter, I wrote here that they should have signed a guy like Randy Wolf or Jon Garland. Now those guys have both pitched well and are going to the playoffs.) Anyway, Brett Anderson, Trevor Cahill, Vin Mazzaro, Gio Gonzalez, Dallas Braden, Clayton Mortensen and Josh Outman (who is out till midseason) provide a pretty solid list of names from which to pick the rotation.

Bullpen: Not much needs to be done here, especially if Joey Devine comes back strong, as the A’s are expecting. Andrew Bailey, Brad Ziegler, Mike Wuertz, Craig Breslow and Devine make a pretty solid top five.

So, what’s all that add up to?

Depends entirely on the development of the pitchers. If a few of the starting pitchers can take the next step and develop into solid 200-inning, sub-4.00 ERA guys, they A’s have a chance to win 85-90 games, even without significant offensive additions. If those pitchers take only a small step from this year, or if they have more injury troubles, the A’s are going to need to find some pop. Frankly, I don’t see them finding it unless Chris Carter turns out to be Ryan Braun, a guy who can step into the big leagues and start hitting bombs from Day 1.