Beaming and looking healthy and trim, Frank Thomas held up his new Oakland A's jersey Thursday at the Coliseum, just the second major-league uniform he's ever worn.

Thomas, signed one day earlier to be Oakland's designated hitter, spent 16 seasons with the White Sox, putting up Hall-of-Fame type numbers, but he left Chicago on less than perfect terms. No one from the White Sox clued him in about their plans to let him go after the season. They never bothered to give him a physical to see if he might be able to play in 2006. And chairman Jerry Reinsdorf never called to say thanks and so long.

"They made their decision and I'm not going to be bitter," Thomas said after the A's news conference to introduce him. "I just think I deserved better, some closure, in Chicago. ... If they'd just said they were going in a different direction, it would be fine, but no one gave me any heads up about what was going on."

Thomas' agent, Arn Tellem, was under the impression the White Sox wanted to work something out with Thomas for 2006; instead, they bought out his option for $3.5 million and went after a high-priced free agent.

Said Thomas, "I was shocked when they brought in Jim Thome -- he was more injured than I was and they gave him all that money. I don't understand where they were going with that."

Thomas said he's moved on, but he is leaning against going to the White House when the White Sox are feted for their world championship.

Thursday was more about Thomas' new team, the A's, who have needed a big right-handed bat since Miguel Tejada left two winters ago. Thomas is a practically risk-free acquisition, with a one-year deal worth $500,000 (incentives based on health and plate appearances could move it up to $3.1 million), but when healthy, he is still capable of great damage -- he hit 12 homers in just 105 at-bats last year.

He also has a lifetime on-base percentage of .427, making him a Moneyball dream. A's general manager Billy Beane called Thomas "the Oakland A's offensive poster child" and added, "This guy probably represents nirvana for us from an offensive standpoint."

The question is Thomas' health after two breaks in different spots in the navicular bone in his left ankle. He isn't running yet, but Thomas passed a battery of tests before signing and he said he feels great, as if he could jump on the field and run now. The A's have the luxury of letting him take his time before the regular season, though, and he believes he'll be ready to go on Opening Day. He was about 70 percent when he was playing last year, he said, and hit a dozen homers; right now, he feels about 90 percent.

He also has dropped 12-15 pounds, he said, which will ease the load on his ankle. At 6-foot-5, Thomas weighs 270 pounds. "That's very light for me," he said.

He lost the extra weight by riding a stationary bike in the steam room, "which I don't suggest to too many people," Thomas said with a smile.

Thomas needs 52 more homers to reach 500, something he said is very important to him, though he believes he has Hall of Fame credentials even if he doesn't hit that milestone.

"I'd sure like to see him hit 52, too," A's manager Ken Macha said.

Macha hasn't settled on a spot for Thomas in the lineup, although it's likely he'd hit either third, ahead of Eric Chavez, or behind Chavez in either the fourth or fifth spot. Chavez has been vocal about wanting a right-hander with power behind him.

"I'd be happy to protect Chavvy," Thomas said. "I've been watching him, and I don't think he's fulfilled his potential yet. I think he's got something special there."

The Oakland A's today announced that they have agreed to terms with outfielder Milton Bradley and right-handed pitcher Kiko Calero on one-year contracts for the 2006 season.

Bradley was acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers with infielder Antonio Perez in exchange for Andre Ethier on December 13, 2005. He batted .290 with 13 home runs and 38 RBI in 75 games with the Dodgers last year in a season interrupted by injuries twice. The 27-year old Bradley has a .269 career batting average with 54 home runs and 233 RBI in 534 games in the Majors.

Calero made 58 relief appearances with the A's last year and was 4-1 with a save and a 3.23 ERA. He allowed a .216 opponents batting average and first batters faced hit .170 which ranked sixth lowest among American League relievers. The 31-year old Calero has a 2.97 ERA in 125 career appearances.

Bradley and Calero were among the five arbitration eligible players on the A's roster that had not signed for 2006. The remaining three are right-handed pitcher Juan Cruz, catcher Adam Melhuse and infielder Mark Ellis.

While individuals everywhere spend the holiday giving thanks for family, friends and -- hopefully -- good fortune, more than 1,500 charitable organizations with ties to the Bay Area no doubt give thanks for the good works of their local big league ball club.

The Oakland A's Community Fund in 2005 supported these organizations through monetary contributions and donated auction items in an effort to support them in improving the quality of life for people throughout the Bay Area. Specifically, the A's gave money to fund endeavors to improve educational programs, aid the underprivileged, assist in crime and drug prevention, promote health awareness, and champion children and senior welfare.

In all, the A's Community Fund donated approximately $500,000 to various community programs.

"It's pretty amazing all the community work the team does," said A's center fielder Mark Kotsay, who participated in several team programs and co-hosted an All-Star "Bowling Bash" with third baseman Eric Chavez to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation. "It's easy to talk about giving something back, but they really do it here. They do a lot of it."

One of the annual charitable highlights for the A's is their annual Breast Cancer Awareness Day, which on Sept. 25 raised more than $141,000 for the American Cancer Society and Northern California Cancer Center through the sale of special ticket packages, commemorative pins and hats, mystery A's autographed baseballs, an A's autographed quilt raffle, A's player autograph and photograph sessions and pledges.

Over the past seven years, the A's have raised more than $665,000 for breast cancer education and research. This year's Breast Cancer Awareness Day was presented by Longs Drugs Stores/Kimberly-Clark, and additional participating sponsors included AT&T, Arrowhead Mountain Spring Water, Contra Costa Times, Comcast, Diablo Magazine, Ghirardelli Chocolate, John Muir Mt. Diablo Health System, KFRC 610-AM, Ross Dress for Less, Wells Fargo and 24 Hour Fitness.

The team's "Step Up to the Plate for Education" program was a big hit, too, raising more than $160,000 for Bay Area and Northern California schools, with $57,770 going specifically to the Contra Costa County schools through the A's partnership with Mechanics Bank. Schools sold A's tickets to designated games, and the A's donated a portion of the ticket proceeds directly back to the schools.

The Community Fund Golf Classic, held June 27 at the Blackhawk Country Club in Danville, is always among the team's top fundraisers, and in 2005 it generated more than $125,000 through the tournament and silent and live auctions. A portion of the proceeds was donated to the Cure Autism Now Foundation. State Roofing Systems of San Leandro was the title sponsor of the event, and additional sponsors included Union Bank of California and Pepsi Bottling Group.

Another big benefactor of the Community Fund was Boys & Girls Clubs of Oakland, which received $100,000 toward its newest clubhouse, the Anna Marie Whalen Branch. In addition, the A's donated a new basketball court floor in the Simpson Family Gymnasium that features the A's logo at center court. This clubhouse is one of three Boys & Girls Clubs of Oakland branches and opened at the start of the 2004-05 school year; it will eventually serve up to 2,000 Central East Oakland girls and boys.

The A's went beyond the Bay Area to offer assistance as well. Spurred in part by the plight of third-base coach Ron Washington, a New Orleans native whose home was ruined by Hurricane Katrina, the club raised $103,153 for the American Red Cross Relief Fund to aid the victims of the disaster. The majority of funds were raised through fan donations, in addition to a contribution by the A's Community Fund, a live postgame dugout auction and the sale of A's autographed baseballs sold by A's player's wives.

The players took up a private collection for Washington, but they had plenty more to give wounded American soldiers through Barry Zito's "Strikeouts For Troops." Zito established the program to provide funds for U.S. military being treated at Walter Reed Army Hospital, Bethesda Naval Hospital and other military hospitals. He contributed $100 for each of the 171 batters he struck out in 2005, and similarly structured contributions from teammates brought the total to $54,815.

Some $51,700 was raised at the Sixth Annual MUG Root Beer Float Day on July 27, with proceeds benefiting the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Funds were raised through the sale of root beer floats, tips given in exchange for autographs and pictures with the celebrity scoopers, the sale of Chavez-autographed mugs, a silent auction of sports memorabilia, an online auction titled "Be a Celebrity Scooper," and the raffle of a 32-inch high definition television, courtesy of Pepsi. Over the past six years, the A's have raised over $180,000 for various charities through MUG Root Beer Float Day, which was sponsored by Pepsi and Comcast. The ice cream for the event was donated by Berkeley Farms.

Prior to the season, more than 24,000 fans attended the A's annual FanFest, the best fan turnout for this A's event to date. The A's raised more than $60,000 for the Community Fund and the Cure Autism Now Foundation through autograph and photo sessions, batting cage tours, clubhouse tours, and the sale of game-worn jerseys from current and former players. The 2005 A's FanFest was sponsored by 24 Hour Fitness, Aloha Airlines, Central Garden and Pet, Comcast, John Muir/Mt. Diablo Health System, McAfee, Pepsi, Plan-It Interactive, Ross Dress For Less and The Oakland Tribune. Other media sponsors included Action 36 Cable 6, Diablo Magazine and KFRC-610 AM.

Among the other 2005 highlights:

• The Community Fund, in partnership with the Good Tidings Foundation, renovated Bambino Field at the Greenman Field Baseball Complex in Oakland during the season. The primary user of the Greenman Field Baseball Complex is the Oakland Babe Ruth League, which consists of approximately 660 youth who range in age from 5 to 18 years old.

• The Community Fund held silent auctions of various sports memorabilia on all Saturday and Sunday home dates. The Community Fund donated more than $35,000 to designated charity groups, which received a portion of the proceeds as silent auction partners on selected dates throughout the season.

• More than 1,000 runners participated in the Macy's/Oakland A's 5K Fun Run on June 19, which raised $25,000 for the Family Violence Prevention Fund.

• More than 9,200 students in 74 Bay Area schools participated in the A's Home Run Readers program during the 2004-2005 school year. Fifty-nine schools reached their goals and received a visit from a member of the A's front office and the A's mascot, Stomper. Six of those schools received a visit from an A's player or coach. Students who participated in the program attended the game on Home Run Readers Day on May 18 as guests of the A's, Citation Homes and EMC2 Inc.

• The A's designed and distributed more than 24,000 "Mathletics" workbooks, which utilize simple formulas for calculating statistics of A's players and were distributed to students (grades 1-4 and 5-8) throughout Northern California in hopes to promote math skills among elementary and junior high school students. Both workbooks were also available online at oaklandathletics.com. Students who completed their workbooks correctly and submitted the answer sheet to the A's received two free tickets to "Mathletics" Day on June 4. In addition, one school that demonstrated outstanding participation in the program received a visit from an A's player. The "Mathletics" program is sponsored by Ross Dress For Less and FSN Bay Area.

• The A's Amigos program gave Hispanic children the opportunity to speak with an A's player about the importance of education, sportsmanship and hard work. In addition to the pregame visit, each child received a game ticket, meal and an A's hat. A's Amigos is sponsored by the Golden State ScholarShare.

• The A's Pitching Pals program allowed 120 aspiring young players in the Bay Area to receive inside tips from an A's pitcher during a pregame clinic, game tickets and an A's hat. A's Pitching Pals is sponsored by HealthNet, A Better Decision.

• More than 10,000 children from low- to moderate-income families were treated to A's games as part of the Little A's program. In addition to a game ticket, each child received a food voucher and an A's pennant. The Little A's program is sponsored by Krispy Kreme Doughnuts and supported by Clorox, Office Depot, the Men's Wearhouse and Union Bank of California.

• More than 4,000 A's tickets were donated to local charities and non-profit agencies by Kotsay, Jason Kendall and Chavez. The charities and non-profits included Big Brothers Big Sisters of the East Bay, Boys & Girls Clubs of Oakland, the YMCA Mt. Diablo Region, U.S. Marines Corps, Travis Air Force Base, Army Fort Hunter Liggett, Veteran's of Oakland, Army San Leandro, Hayward police department and Alameda County fire department.

• A's players and coaches attended the Monte Carlo Classic at the Diablo Country Club on April 30, raising more than $120,000 to benefit the Special Olympics East Bay Region.

• Members of the A's attended the Muscle Team Dinner and Auction on April 27, raising more than $116,000 to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

• In partnership with the A's, Anheuser-Busch donated $10,000 to the Hispanic Scholarship Fund through the Budweiser Homerunazo Program.

• Kragen Auto Parts donated a car seat for every home run the A's hit during the regular season. A check for $5,800 was presented to La Clinica de la Raza, which distributed the 155 car seats.

• Over the course of a 14-year partnership with the A's, the Men's Wearhouse has provided more than $206,000 to the Oakland Zoo through the A's Double Play program.

"It's beyond cool that the team does so much," Zito said. "They definitely talk the talk and walk the walk."

The city and Alameda County's rocky relationship with the Oakland Raiders began to mend Tuesday, but their cordial friendship with the Oakland Athletics appeared headed toward a storm.

The City Council late Tuesday night approved a deal that will end the despised Personal Seat License and years of bickering with the Raiders. Councilmembers Nancy Nadel (Downtown-West Oakland) and Desley Brooks (Eastmont-Seminary) abstained from the vote, saying they did not have enough information to make such an important decision.

But just as both the council and the county Board of Supervisors began the final approval process for the deal, it was revealed that the A's had been denied a request that would have extended the team's stay in town.

As part of a complicated set of negotiations through the summer, the A's had requested a three-year extension of their McAfee Coliseum lease, which expires in 2010.

The Oakland Raiders made a similar request.

Both requests were denied.

The fact that owners of both teams asked for lease extensions — despite perceptions at times that both are itching to move their franchises out of Oakland — was disclosed Tuesday afternoon as the supervisors approved the settlement agreement with the Raiders. They voted 4-1 in favor of the deal, with Supervisor Keith Carson opposed.

By denying the A's request for a lease extension, negotiators for the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority appear to have angered the team's ownership at a time when it is trying to find a new ballpark.

"Our wish for a three-year extension was to show our commitment to the city of Oakland," A's spokesman Jim Young said. "We were disappointed that it was turned down."

The baseball organization became involved in the negotiations with the Raiders after the football team requested more advertising space inside the Coliseum.

The Raiders made that request as part of the larger settlement agreement that ended PSLs and millions of dollars' worth of pending lawsuits.

Since the Raiders moved back to the Coliseum in 1995, the A's have had all say in choosing advertisements inside the Coliseum. The team chooses the advertiser and the ad location and reaps all the monetary awards up to $3.5 million.

After the $3.5 million threshold is reached, the A's must share any additional profits with the Coliseum and the Raiders.

Under the new agreement, the Raiders get a little say.

The football team wins the right to place four ads on four scoreboards in addition to banner ads along the walls of the Coliseum.

In exchange, the Raiders agreed to drop a $14 million claim against the Coliseum Authority that argued the A's were not properly accounting for their stadium advertising revenue.

A's owner Lewis Wolff agreed to share the space inside the stadium but requested the extension as a concession.

The thinking on the A's part was that an extensionwould give the team and Oakland more time to find a location in the city for a ballpark. It also would help the team squash constant rumors that it was looking elsewhere for a stadium, Young said.

"More than anything else, it would have extended the window toward securing a baseball-only facility in the city of Oakland," Young said. "That window remains open, but it won't be forever."

Wolff's request was denied by a negotiating group that included City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente and Supervisor Gail Steele.

De La Fuente did not return repeated phone calls seeking comment Tuesday.

Steele said it was not her idea to deny the request.

"If it was up to me, I would have had a three-year extension with the Athletics, and I would have a three-year extension with the Raiders," she said. "I just think others wanted to look at these things separately; it was just compounding an already complex deal."

Despite the denial, Wolff eventually agreed to allow the Raiders some advertising room inside the stadium.

His approval helped the council and Board of Supervisors to sign their settlement agreement with the Raiders. That settlement includes the demise of the PSL and gives the Raiders control of ticket sales for Raiders home games. It also ends 17 separate claims the team had against the city and county for a variety of issues, including day-of-game expenses and advertising revenue.

But it failed to resolve a $34 million jury award the Coliseum must pay the Raiders, an award that is now close to $43 million.

And it failed to ensure the Raiders would stay in Oakland once the team's lease expires in 2011.

But it could have guaranteed they stay until at least 2013.

The same negotiating group that denied the A's request for a lease extension also denied a request by the Raiders for a three-year lease extension.

Raiders Chief Executive Officer Amy Trask said the team is not disappointed that its request was denied.

Instead, she said, the team looks forward to working with the Coliseum Authority to settle the $34 million jury verdict.

"We agreed with the Coliseum, back in November, that we will sit down to see if there are ways to resolve the judgment in Sacramento," Trask said. "We have already met and will continue to do so in an effort to work this out."

In addition, Trask said, the team looks forward to working with the A's in hopes of generating additional advertising revenue inside the stadium.

The Oakland A's today announced that they have agreed to terms with left-handed pitcher Joe Kennedy on a one-year contract for the 2006 season. The A's also announced that catcher John Baker was claimed on waivers by the Florida Marlins.

Kennedy was acquired by the A's from Colorado at the All-Star Break last year and was 4-5 with a 4.45 ERA in 19 games, eight starts, with Oakland. He also went 4-8 with a 7.04 ERA in 16 starts with the Rockies. The 26-year old Kennedy posted a 3.00 ERA in 11 relief appearances with the A's before replacing the injured Rich Harden in the starting rotation. He was 2-5 with a 5.06 ERA in his eight starting assignments with Oakland.

Baker hit .234 with five home runs and 41 RBI in 103 games at Triple-A Sacramento last year. He was designated for assignment on December 5 when the A's acquired Chad Gaudin from Toronto.

Kennedy was the first of eight arbitration eligible players on the A's roster to agree to terms on a contract for the 2006 season. The remaining seven players are right-handed pitchers Kiko Calero and Juan Cruz, catcher Adam Melhuse, infielder Mark Ellis and outfielders Hiram Bocachica, Milton Bradley and Bobby Kielty.

Esteban Loaiza weighed similar offers from the Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants before choosing to stick with what felt most familiar: the American League.

The A's and the free-agent right-hander agreed Monday to a three-year contract worth nearly $21.4 million, adding an experienced pitcher to a starting rotation that already includes Barry Zito and Rich Harden.

"I landed pretty good here with a nice group of guys," Loaiza said when introduced at Oakland's ballpark. "Coming back this year to the American League, it's still fresh. ... I'm happy to be here. I'll do the best job possible for myself, for the team, my new teammates that I'm going to see at spring training. I'll give it my best and try to win a World Series."

The deal, worth $21,375,000, includes a 2009 club option. Loaiza went 12-10 with a 3.77 ERA for the Washington Nationals last season, the second-best win total in his 11-year major league career. He won 21 games for the Chicago White Sox in 2003.

The 33-year-old Loaiza made the tough decision to turn down a similar offer — three years without an option — from the Giants. He has spent most of his career in the AL.

A's general manager Billy Beane made it clear that adding Loaiza doesn't mean he will trade another pitcher. There has been speculation for some time that he might deal Zito, whose contract is up after next season. Beane plans to have discussions with Zito's representatives during a "quieter time in the offseason."

"With Barry in our rotation and Esteban in our rotation, we have a chance for one of the deepest rotations in the league," Beane said.

Loaiza joins a team that has almost its entire roster returning from last season, when the A's failed to reach the playoffs for the second straight year. Oakland had a 91-win season in 2004 and 88 victories this year.

John Boggs, Loaiza's agent, was surprised that Beane still had serious interest in the pitcher when other teams got involved. Usually, the A's budget restraints keep them out of deals such as this.

"He kept matching blow for blow," Boggs said.

After a slow start by its young rotation, Oakland pitched well down the stretch thanks to impressive performances by rookie 12-game winner Joe Blanton and Dan Haren, a 14-game winner in his first full season as a starter.

Beane believes Loaiza complements the starters the A's already have, and the GM has had interest in Loaiza for several years. With both Blanton and Haren logging more than 200 innings in 2005, Beane wanted another starter who could take some pressure off his young pitchers.

"You can never have enough pitching," said Beane, still looking to upgrade the offense. "The good thing is he can no longer pitch against us. We think this is a great addition to an already very strong pitching staff."

Loaiza made 34 starts last season, striking out 173 and walking 55 batters in 217 innings. A two-time All-Star, he bounced back from a 1-4 start this year to go 11-6 with a 3.86 ERA in 23 outings after June 1.

Loaiza's deal includes a $3 million signing bonus with a spread-out payment schedule and yearly salaries of $5 million, $6 million and $7 million. The A's have a $7.5 million option for 2009 with a $375,000 buyout.

Manager Ken Macha, who parted ways with the team briefly after the season before signing a new deal, was pleased with how well Oakland performed with such a young roster. The A's also dealt with injuries to shortstop Bobby Crosby and No. 2 starter Harden, who took on a greater role after the team traded Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder during a three-day span last December.

"It was an opportunity to add a player without subtracting a player," Beane said. "You guys know our history. Usually, we're trading a player to acquire a player."

But the departures of Hudson and Mulder offered the A's some payroll flexibility, and Beane expects to have more money to spend on players under the team's new ownership group headed by Los Angeles real estate developer Lewis Wolff.

Loaiza has a 112-99 career record and a 4.60 ERA in 334 games, 297 starts. His 112 wins are second-most in major league history by a Mexican-born pitcher to Fernando Valenzuela's 173.

Loaiza joins his seventh team after breaking into the big leagues in 1995 with Pittsburgh, where he worked with A's catcher Jason Kendall. Loaiza also pitched for Texas, Toronto, the White Sox, the New York Yankees and Washington.

The Oakland Athletics acquired right-hander Chad Gaudin from the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday for a player to be named.

The 22-year-old Gaudin was 9-8 with a 3.35 ERA in 23 starts for Triple-A Syracuse last season, ranking fourth in the International League in ERA. He struggled in a brief stint in the majors, going 1-3 with a 13.15 ERA in five appearances.

Gaudin made his major league debut with Tampa Bay in 2003 at the age of 20 and also pitched for the Devil Rays the following season. He's 4-5 with a 5.46 ERA in 46 major league appearances, including 10 starts.

To clear a spot for Gaudin on the 40-man roster, the A's designated catcher John Baker for assignment. Baker hit .234 with five home runs and 41 RBIs in 103 games for Triple-A Sacramento last season.