If the answer is a young team with a low payroll and modest expectations, what is the question? It could be “Which club is the opposite of the Yankees?” or “Who are the Oakland Athletics?” The small-market A’s, who had one of the bleakest records in the American League last season, are astronomically different than the large-market Yankees, who won a World Series title six months ago.

Billy Beane, the general manager of the A’s, discussed the differences between the teams in a factual manner, not in a frustrated manner. The A’s have used superb pitching to hang out near the top of the American League West, but Beane stressed that the A’s need more than pitching to try and make the next five-and-a-half months as interesting as the last two weeks.

“Our biggest challenge is going to be scoring runs,” Beane said. “Coming in, we knew power was going to be an issue. Quite frankly, it’s tough to win in this league without hitting some home runs.”

The Yankees hit some home runs. They hit lots and lots of home runs and led the Major Leagues with 244 in 2009. Nick Swisher, who hits eighth for the Yankees, blasted 29 last year. He might hit fourth of fifth in Oakland’s lineup. Curtis Granderson, who ripped 30 homers for the Detroit Tigers last season, now hits seventh for the Yankees. Granderson would also find his name higher in the batting order if he were with the A’s, who were last in the A.L. with 135 homers.

Beane was blunt in acknowledging that the A’s don’t have a serious power threat in the Major Leagues right now. While Chris Carter and Michael Taylor, a pair of Triple-A hitters, could provide that power at some point, Beane said the A’s will be patient with both players. So when Beane compares his offensively-challenged lineup to a Yankees’ lineup that has power potential in the seventh and eighth slots in the order, is he envious?

“Oh, man, if I spent the last 13 years being envious of the Yankees, I’d have gone crazy years ago,” said Beane, in a telephone interview. “That’s the game. The Yankees, they’re one of the biggest sports franchises in the world. We’re one of the smaller ones, so we’ve always sort of dealt with that.”

The A’s came perilously close to conquering the Yankees in 2000 and 2001, losing in the fifth game of the Division Series both times. Beane called the Yankees “our Waterloo.” Now Beane, who has collected young players like baseball cards through trades, is trying to help the A’s get back there. Phil Hughes stalled that pursuit for a day by taking a no-hitter into the eighth inning in powering the Yankees past the A’s, 3-1, for the second straight game Wednesday night.

Watching Hughes from the Oakland dugout was Brett Anderson. After Anderson went 11-11 with a 4.06 earned run average and 150 strikeouts and 45 walks in 175 1/3 innings as a rookie, Beane realized the A’s should make a significant commitment. The A’s signed Anderson to a four-year, $12.5 contract that could expand to $31 million over six years because Beane said “the price on Brett was going to keep going up.”

With Anderson, 22, supported by Trevor Cahill, 22, Gio Gonzalez, 24, and Dallas Braden, 26, Beane is confident that Oakland’s present and the future will include starters “that are young and talented and that are going to be good.” Still, there is a lot more work for the A’s, who depend on the likes of first baseman Daric Barton and outfielder Ryan Sweeney, two players they obtained in trades, to produce important hits. Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez, they are not.
 
“I don’t think there’s necessarily envy toward the Yankees,” said Beane. “It’s something we’re used to.”

Beane won’t say it publicly, but it would be surprising if the A’s made the postseason in 2010. Unless Oakland’s hitters overachieve, that probably won’t happen. But Beane did speak publicly about how surprising it would be if the Yankees went home after the regular season.

 “I think your first response is to say, ‘Yeah, it would be shocking,’” Beane said. “But I think you also respect the teams in that division. To me, it’s the best division in sports. I think the SEC football coaches would debate you. But the AL East is the most competitive. When you’ve got the Yankees and the Red Sox, and you throw in a club like Tampa that is really starting to compete right now, I don’t think there are any guarantees with anyone.”

About a minute later, Beane said he expects that the Yankees “will do everything they possibly can to guarantee” a postseason berth. Beane praised Brian Cashman, his counterpart on the Yankees and an executive whose $206 million payroll is about $150 million higher than Oakland’s payroll. By focusing on how talented the AL East is, Beane said he was “trying to take the pressure off Brian.”

That remark made me laugh. With all due respect, I told Beane that nothing he uttered would ever reduce the pressure on Cashman. The Yankees insist that they want to win a championship every season. Beane knows that, knows that Cashman and the Yankees always have grander expectations.

“Sometimes,” Beane said playfully, “that makes him envious of me.”