A's give Dodgers permission to talk to DePodesta

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OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Oakland Athletics have granted permission to the Los Angeles Dodgers to speak to assistant general manager Paul DePodesta about their possible GM vacancy.

DePodesta, 31, has been a top assistant to GM Billy Beane since joining the A's in November 1998, and this would be his sixth season with the club. He earned an economics degree from Harvard.

DePodesta has been considered one of the top young baseball executives and was expected to take over as A's GM in November 2002 when Beane was headed to the Red Sox. But Beane then changed his mind and stayed in Oakland.

Beane had been considered a leading candidate for the Dodgers job -- he has a daughter in Southern California -- but when incoming Los Angeles owner Frank McCourt called Oakland owner Steve Schott to inquire about Beane, Schott told McCourt that Beane would be staying put.

The A's said they were never formally asked by the Dodgers for permission to speak with Beane, who is under contract through 2008.

Dan Evans is in the final year of a three-year contract as Dodgers GM. But after the $430 million sale of the team by News Corp. to McCourt was approved by baseball owners last week, the new owner said Evans was merely a candidate for the job and he would be conducting other interviews.

This story is from ESPN.com's automated news wire. Wire index

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