Baseball is unpredictable, which is pretty neat cause most predictions and projections have the A's squarely outside of the playoff picture. Unpredictability is one of the things that makes the sport so great: the Royals opened 2015 with the 15th best odds of winning the World Series at 30-1. Compare that with the Denver Broncos at 6th last year (9-1) to win the Super Bowl and the Golden State Warriors at 3rd (16-1) for the NBA title, and you get an understanding at just how crazy the sport is comparatively.
What makes it so unpredictable?