Going on August now, and it seems odd to not have the Oakland A's around.

The best second-half team in the game since 1999 – ask the Los Angeles Angels – the A's don't look to have it in them this summer.

Rather than making one of their signature runs, sending little crawlies down Bill Stoneman's neck, the A's instead are shopping players – Mike Piazza, Bobby Kielty, Joe Kennedy anyone? – and charting the first half of 2008.

If nothing else, the armloads of injuries and the resulting fallback have given Billy Beane a long look at Jack Cust, Lenny DiNardo, Kurt Suzuki, Chad Gaudin and Santiago Casilla, which is something.

"I use this as a great time for trying things," Beane said. "The challenges of it are really what motivate me in this job. I've also never feared short-term pain when there's long-term gain in there."

The Minnesota Twins are thought to be hottest on Piazza, who is due off the disabled list Saturday and won't be traded before then, because, well, Saturday is Mike Piazza Bobblehead Doll Day in Oakland, and that would be awkward. The New York Yankees, Angels, Seattle Mariners and, perhaps, the Boston Red Sox could also have a use for him.

Piazza hasn't taken a big-league at-bat since May 2, when his shoulder broke down. Since then, there's been the Cust evolution, followed by the failed plan to have Piazza return to catching, the Milton Bradley bail-out, another false start from Rich Harden, then the Jason Kendall trade, all as a backdrop to the A's losing 21 of 28 games before Wednesday night's win against the Texas Rangers.

But, Piazza can hit, and will hit, so he would add flair to what looks like a drab trading deadline. He's expected to return to the lineup tonight against the Baltimore Orioles and Erik Bedard, so a Piazza resolution could come fast.

The Red Sox were serious in recent weeks about adding Kielty, but had talks with a third team about Wily Mo Pena break down, momentarily fouling a Kielty deal.

Meantime, the A's are mulling the proper time to promote Daric Barton, the big-time prospect whose best defensive position is DH.

FIVE …

• The Yankees continue to engage the Texas Rangers in talks about first baseman Mark Teixeira, according to baseball sources, and might also be considering Ty Wigginton of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, making Shea Hillenbrand their third choice and explaining why Hillenbrand has been out of work for almost a month. That and the fact Hillenbrand did almost nothing for the Angels.

• Released by the Colorado Rockies while batting .181 in early June, Steve Finley, at 42, continues to take batting practice at his home outside San Diego, hopeful his career isn't over after 19 seasons. He works several times a week with former big-league batting coach Merv Rettenmund. Finley is 452 hits short of 3,000, so that's certainly out, but his agent, Casey Close, said Finley believes he's got another season or two left in him.

"He's working out as if tomorrow he's going to get the call," Close said. "He wants to play. This is about the heart. It's not about fear of retirement. He's just not ready for it to be the end yet."

• Marlon Anderson returned to the big leagues with the New York Mets on Thursday night in Los Angeles, where the locals should have two fond memories of the left-handed-hitting outfielder:

1) He batted .375 with seven home runs and 15 RBI from Sept. 1 on last season, picking up for a lost Andre Ethier and helping the Dodgers into the playoffs.

2) Upon his arrival from Washington, he informed new teammate Brad Penny that the pitcher had been tipping his breaking ball, and almost every hitter in the National League knew it.

While Penny couldn't tighten his mechanics in time to help the Dodgers last season, a few offseason adjustments have led to his Cy Young Award candidacy in this one. Anderson said he actually watched a couple of Penny's bullpen sessions late in the season.

"If I'm on a team with a guy, that's something I'll do for him," Anderson said. "I've always been that way."

Anderson primarily will serve the Mets as a pinch-hitter and fill in at second base and left field. If he's lucky, he'll get his reward for helping a teammate through a difficult time: Penny goes for his 12th win Saturday night against the Mets. Anderson is 5 for 23 against him.

• Thirty-one years ago today, Hank Aaron hit the last of his 755 home runs. Aaron was the DH, batting cleanup between George Scott and Darrell Porter. Scott and Aaron went back-to-back off California Angels right-hander Dick Drago in the seventh inning at Milwaukee County Stadium. Barely 10,000 attended. Aaron played out that season for the Brewers, going 1 for 3 in his final game on Oct. 3, finishing with a .229 batting average, 10 home runs and 35 RBI. He was 42.

• Amid 35 more hits at Dodger Stadium on Thursday night (20 off Tom Glavine and Derek Lowe in a combined five innings), two stood out for what they meant to the direction of the Dodgers, Ned Colletti's trading deadline and Bill Mueller's career as a hitting coach. It was the bottom of the second inning, the Dodgers already trailing the Mets, 6-2. Glavine, seeking his 299th career win, was in trouble. Under Eddie Murray, Dodgers hitters might have been slashing at everything. But, James Loney worked the count to 3-and-1, got a fastball up, and drove it to left field, his opposite field. Up next, Matt Kemp went to a full count against Glavine, also got a high fastball, and also drove it the other way, into the right-field bleachers. Colletti needs at least one pitcher – preferably a starter – and Loney and Kemp are very popular demands. But, they're both crowding .400, and both future middle-of-the-order hitters, perhaps as soon as this summer.

"They look like they're pretty good players," Glavine said later. "It's a case of them getting more comfortable and getting better and realizing what they're capable of doing."

… AND FLY

Lou Piniella, to reporters in Chicago after the Cubs dealt Cesar Izturis to the Pittsburgh Pirates and called up outfielder Jake Fox, on the chances for more moves: "We've tinkered enough. Now we'll just play."