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"In spite of Billy Beane's careful plans and grand design, the A's find themselves still in the playoff picture 20 games into the season. This could necessitate some rethinking. The rethinking could involve Frank Thomas, or Barry Bonds. Or (drumroll, please!) both. Could it be? The Big Hurt and the Big Pain, two of baseball's all-time great diva sluggers, joining forces in Oakland? Probably not, but nobody in a position to rule out any of this has ruled out any of this, yet. I checked Sunday morning with A's assistant general manager David Forst, first about Thomas, who was released by the Blue Jays on Sunday and is free-free-free. \"I saw that he was released (Sunday) morning,\" Forst said. \"We haven't even talked about it. We've got a couple DH options here now. Honestly, we haven't even had a discussion.\" But might such a discussion be held? \"We obviously enjoyed our time with Frank here (the '06 season), so sure, we'll have a discussion.\" What about Barry? \"Barry who?\" Forst said, and I felt like I was in the middle of a knock-knock joke. \"Bonds.\" \"Uh, we're happy with the guys we have,\" Forst said. Heck, who wouldn't be? Except for the fact that the guys the A's have aren't hitting home runs, which would be cool if the A's weren't winning games. If the season were going as planned by Beane & Co., with the A's sucking but rebuilding with exciting young talent, captivating the fans with their puppy-like hustle while losing games, fine. But no. The Angels and Mariners are struggling, and the A's pulled into a tie for the division lead. What if Beane & Co. decide to switch gears and make a run at the playoffs? That would be gutsy. And that's where Thomas and perhaps Bonds might enter the picture. The A's lead the major leagues in not hitting home runs. They've hit seven, and going 12-8 with seven taters is kind of smoke and mirror-ish. If the A's decide to go legit, they need someone who can hit 20 home runs. Jack Cust hit 26 last season; he ha one this year. The A's must face the possibility that Cust was a one-season wonder. The right-handed designated hitter is Mike Sweeney, who is resting a sore knee for a few days. Sweeney never strikes out (OK, once this season), but he is looking for his first home run after 51 at-bats. Sweeney and Cust, that's about 460 pounds of hitter, 102 at-bats, and one homer. \"We're going to eventually have to show some more power,\" A's manager Bob Geren said after the game. Or import it. Let's look at Thomas and Bonds. Thomas, age 39, had 26 homers and 95 RBIs last season for Toronto. But this season, after hitting three homers in three games, Hurt has gone stone cold. When the club demoted him to part-time status, he asked out of his contract and left, disgruntled. Thomas has the rep of a me-first guy with questionable work habits, and now, maybe, an inflated sense of his impact. But two years ago with the A's, he was popular and productive. Bonds, age 43, hit 28 homers last season, and you know the rest. He's reportedly working out like a madman in Los Angeles, but he's got no offers, and a growing collusion complex. Bonds, even if he doesn't hit a ton, has \"bearded-lady\" box-office value. The A's were interested in Bonds during the offseason but pulled back because of his legal problems. Now it looks like he's free to play ball all season. Bonds' agent, Jeff Borris, told the Los Angeles Times, \"I haven't had any offers (for Bonds) from any team at any time, which seems highly unusual for a player of his caliber.\" Commissioner Bud Selig doesn't want any collusion lawsuits, so he might be on the horn to Beane right now, touting Bonds. Bonds has said he will sign only for a contending team. But based on what we know about Barry, his definition of \"contender\" is \"any team smart enough to sign me.\" Is the A's clubhouse big enough for Bonds and Thomas? And I mean that literally. They're big fellows. The A's would have to knock out a wall. As for attitude, would either of them, and especially both of them, mess up the A's sweet clubhouse chemistry? Thomas was a peach in Oakland two years ago, although Nick Swisher helped the Big Hurt feel wanted, and Swisher's gone. However, both Thomas and Bonds are hungry to play, and as one A's insider said, \"Bonds has already been humbled by being out of a job.\" So you could have one or two motivated, humbled, yet chip-on-shoulder superstars reporting for duty. \"My career's not going to end like this,\" Thomas said when the Blue Jays helped him clean out his locker. Bonds is saying the same thing with his alleged super-serious workouts. On Sunday, the tied-for-first A's beat the Royals 7-1 in front of a home crowd of 18,645. The A's swept the three-game series, hitting one home run. -- Frank Thomas, in a 4-for-35 slump, is released by the Blue Jays, one day after an angry outburst. C6"
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