This A's team reminds me of Charlie Finley's A's teams from 1977 and 1978, after Jackson, Bando, Campaneris, Hunter, etc. had all left with the dawn of free agency. We used to go and watch the Twins play them in Oakland from time to time.
They were brutal (but still managed to beat the Twins a few times when we went). Think about what would happen if the entire Twins team left all at once and the whole team was promoted from the minor leagues. That's what those teams were like.