Chavez amused: Chavez got a kick out of a column in a Chicago-area newspaper, the Daily Herald, suggesting the A's might trade the third baseman because, "(Chavez) wants out of Oakland so bad that he's the one who apparently is fueling the trade rumor to the Sox.''
Chavez laughed and said, "Yeah, that's why I just signed a $66 million contract to stay here last year, so I can leave. Where does this stuff come from? I don't want to go anywhere near the East Coast, and to me Chicago is the East Coast, anything past Texas.''
A's general manager Billy Beane was outraged by the story, saying, "It's total (garbage.)''