​Athletics fans won’t like seeing where their team sits in latest power rankings originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.The Athletics were a fun team to watch last season. Their core group of mainly younger players had no trouble producing offense, but the pitching staff was what held them back.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementDuring the offseason, they didn’t really address the hole as much as fans would have hoped, but they did bring in Aaron Civale to serve as a frontline starter.Initially, the staff seemed a bit better than they were last year, but that didn’t last long. The pitching staff is hurting, and the offense is now missing some key contributors.MORE: Athletics make coaching change at All-Star break amid nine-game losing streakThe A’s took a big hit when Brent Rooker went down with a bone bruise in his knee in June, and he’ll be out for the rest of the season after having surgery. Recently, they lost Zack Gelof to the IL a few days ago after colliding with the left-field fence, and Nick Kurtz is on the IL with a thumb injury.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementNone of those injuries helped the A’s do much of anything last week as they were swept by the Detroit Tigers and then the Chicago White Sox. With this, Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller bumps this team down from No. 25 to No. 30 in this week’s power rankings.”There are teams with slightly worse overall records than the A’s, but no one enters the All-Star break looking as hopelessly broken as this squad does, suddenly unable to hit the broad side of a barn. The A’s have lost 17 of their last 20 games, plummeting from ‘.500 team that might win its division’ to ‘trade-deadline seller with little to offer.’ Losing Nick Kurtz to the IL this past week was quite the cherry on what has been an awful sundae.”Thankfully, the team gets a little break to hopefully recharge and regroup. Because if they come out like they have been the last few weeks, this is going to be one long second half of the season for the fanbase.Dumbfounded: Spencer Torkelson’s inconsistent production compounding Tigers’ problemsRays interested in Giants’ $12M All-Star infielder as ‘backup plan’ at trade deadlineWhy Rays’ Junior Caminero should be Home Run Derby favorite over Kyle SchwarberMariners sign record-setting outfielder who played Division I football