SFgate.com: Look past Manny, and L.A. is young

Now it’s Manny’s team, but he realizes he’s not alone. “I set the table now,” he said. “Ethier is the hitting machine. He’s the RBI man.”

“Yeah,” Ethier said with a smile, “he’s just a table-setter now, and I’m supposed to clean him up. He said I owe his clubhouse dues for the month.”

Ethier is the cleanup hitter, positioned behind Ramirez. With 22 RBIs, he trails only Albert Pujols in the NL. How would he look on the A’s right about now? Fine, thank you. But the A’s deemed him expendable after the 2005 season and shipped him to L.A. for Milton Bradley and Antonio Perez.

Bradley’s only full season in Oakland was 2006. He twice was on the DL that year but was a major factor in the playoff push as the A’s No. 3 hitter. He hit .500 in the ALCS, which the Tigers won in a sweep.

A’s general manager Billy Beane and Dodgers GM Ned Colletti made the trade, Colleti’s first in L.A. Ethier was a prospect and coming off an MVP season in the Texas League.

“I look at it as benefiting me. I wasn’t too concerned how it was going to benefit them,” Ethier said of the A’s. “They were able to make the move and better their team for that year. (Nick) Swisher was ahead of me, and (Travis) Buck was the next guy coming up. It turned out good.”