Yankees' A-Rod to A's?

The timing screams out for a bold move, doesn't it? Something that nobody sees coming. Something that is not only outside the box, but outside the universe, as well.

Billy Beane is just lucky that there are those of us in the peanut gallery who are all too willing to offer our suggestions. Because when it comes to bold, this makes the firing of a manager two days after his team was playing for a World Series berth look vanilla in comparison.

A-Rod as an Athletic!

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Even with the search for a new manager, comparatively speaking, this shouldn't be a super busy off-season for the A's. It's not as if they're trading away two premium starters (as after 2004) and don't figure to overhaul nearly half the roster (as after 2003).

The A's have three free agents. Barry Zito is gone, Frank Thomas is probably coming back, and Jay Payton's status will depend on his asking price and what else is available.

"We've only talked briefly about some of our personnel issues," general manager Billy Beane said. "We haven't got really in depth at addressing some our key needs yet."

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OK, I'VE BEEN wrong before, so take this with heavy dose of salt, but ...

There's no way Ron Washington is getting the A's job.

First off, if Billy Beane thought his third-base coach had managerial potential, he'd have given him the gig last year before Ken Macha pridelessly came crawling back on hands and knees.

Has anything changed in the past 12 months? I doubt it.

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Ken Macha received a pink slip this week because he wasn't a players' manager. The same day, the highly coveted Lou Piniella received a three-year contract from the Cubs, largely because he was a welcome alternative to Dusty Baker, a players' manager. George Steinbrenner briefly wanted Piniella for the same reason, to replace the thoughtful, empathetic Joe Torre.

So what's the formula? There isn't one. There are only teams that need to make a change. Among the clubs in the market for a manager, the A's and Giants probably have the hardest tasks, the A's because they don't want to leap too far from where they've been and the Giants because they need to flee from their recent history.

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PITCHERS 2006 2007

Joe Blanton $327,000 Under 2 years Would the A's trade him?

Kiko Calero $850,000 Salary arbitration Not a free agent until '10

Justin Duchscherer $345,000 Salary arbitration Big raise due for his results

Ron Flores $327,000 Under 2 years Racked up frequent flier miles

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