Three years from now, most everyone will have forgotten that Rob Bowen once played for the Chicago Cubs. Like Jody Gerut. The Cubs traded Bowen and 6'6" lefthanded minor league reliever Jerry Blevins to the Oakland A's today for catcher Jason Kendall.

So much for the Geovany Soto experiment, as Kendall will become the everyday catcher, with Koyie Hill likely having the inside track to remain the backup. With Billy Petrick back, giving the Cubs 12 pitchers again, one of Hill or Soto is going back to Iowa.

Kendall is hitting .226/.261/.281 for the A's this year, "good" for an adjusted OPS+ of 46. In 2006, he had an 89 OPS+ and in 2005 he had a 77 OPS+.

Apparently, somene in the Cubs' organization has a long memory, recalling that Kendall has hit .302/.392/.425 in his career against the Cubs, mostly from his time with the Pirates from 1996-2004.

Baker 'interested' in A's vacancy but won't call Beane (Dave Newhouse, Contra Costa Times, 10/17/2006)

The A's need a new manager, and former Giants skipper Dusty Baker says he'd "be interested."

"In the Bay Area, oh, yeah. It would be nice for me and my family." Baker said by telephone Monday.

If Billy Beane hires Dusty Baker, we don't know very much about Billy Beane.