The A's told Beane and Beane told ... never mind.

Hiram Bocachica regrets leaving the Dodgers, according to Joe Roderick of the Contra Costa Times:

Bocachica has endured two miserable seasons since he was traded by the Dodgers, spending time with the Detroit Tigers (who lost 119 games in 2003) and then playing for the Seattle Mariners (99 losses in 2004).

"I wish I could go back and say I want to stay here,'' Bocachica said. "You never know what's going to happen in the future, but at that moment I wanted to get traded and get my chance to play. Now that I look back I should have stayed there, but things happen. They're a great organization. I've got nothing but good things to say about them.''

Did Bocachica have a choice about staying or leaving? That wasn't my impression. He never cracked .300 in on-base percentage with the Dodgers, though he did have four home runs and three doubles in 65 at-bats before being traded in July 2002 for Tom Farmer. That would be enough production for many short-term memorists to give Bocachica the 2005 Dodger first base job over Hee Seop Choi, but still ...

The 25-year-old Farmer, by the way, had a 4.59 ERA in 82 innings in AAA Las Vegas last season, allowing 105 hits and 34 walks while striking out 70.

Bocachica is 29 now. Oakland general manager Billy Beane said some nice things about him - he signed him, after all - but somehow I feel he was manufacturing compliments the way Little Ball advocates like to manufacture runs.

"He's a versatile guy,'' Beane told Roderick. "He gives us speed late in the game. It's a component we were missing last year. We haven't had that kind of guy off the bench.''

Is my interest in these obscure ex-Dodgers over the top? It's a sickness, isn't it? I tell you, I can't get enough. Even as I dismiss them, I root for them. Most of the time.