OAKLAND -- A's fans, meet your new Jason Giambi.
Oh, nobody was directly anointing Carlos Peña as such Monday.
Not after the A's filled their gaping void by receiving the Texas Rangers' prized first-base prospect and left-handed reliever Mike Venafro for one-time Giambi-in-waiting Jason Hart, top Sacramento pitcher Mario Ramos, River Cats outfielder Ryan Ludwick and Class-A catcher Gerald Laird.
Nobody, that is, except Peña.
"I realize there is external pressure. However, I'm not going to put pressure on myself to be Jason Giambi," Peña said via telephone from his native Dominican Republic.
Peña, 23 and like Giambi a left-handed power hitter who draws walks, was referring to the instant expectation of him being able to adequately fill Giambi's first baseman's cleats the way Giambi more than adequately filled Mark McGwire's in 1997.
"I just want to achieve my goals," Peña said before his Dominican winter-league team -- which includes River Cats Eric Byrnes and Cody McKay and Sacramento manager Bob Geren -- faced a team starring A's shortstop Miguel Tejada on Monday.
"I want to be a superstar in this league -- just like Jason Giambi. Hopefully, in a few years I can have a name like his and build an empire in Oakland like he did."
That's big talk from a 6-foot-2, 210-pound No.-1 draft pick (10th overall) in 1998 who made his major-league debut just last Sept. 5. Two weeks later, Peña hit his first and second major-league home runs in a Rangers home win over the A's.
Peña hit .258 with three home runs and 22 RBIs in 22 games for Texas.
But what had A's general manager Billy Beane -- and many of his league colleagues -- drooling was Peña's great defense, a .288 average, 23 homers, 74 RBIs, 80 walks and a .408 on-base percentage in 118 games while overcoming an early-season hamstring injury in 2001 at Triple-A Oklahoma.
The fact that the rookie comes $90.7 million cheaper than Giambi would have if he stayed in Oakland didn't hurt the penny-pinching A's, either. The major-league minimum for rookies is less than $300,000 per year.
Peña became available once Texas signed free agent Juan González earlier this month. That put Peña behind Rafael Palmeiro and González as the Rangers' first-base/designated hitter options.
To get baseball's top first-base prospect, Beane said he had to "beat down the door" of new Rangers GM John Hart, who was getting Peña offers from a handful of other teams.
That meant parting with Ramos and Hart. Last fall, Ramos was considered untouchable after an 8-3 record in his Triple-A debut in Sacramento that pushed his career minor-league record to 31-8. Hart, the 24-year-old 2000 Minor League Player of the Year, was destined to be Giambi's heir until he slumped to .247 with 101 strikeouts in 134 games during his first full Triple-A season.
Beane, of course, was not about to instantly turn Peña, a relative baseball babe, into Babe Ruth with bold proclamations.
But judging by Oakland's surrender of its best minor-leaguers, the A's have found their Giambi successor.
"Ultimately, our viewpoint is that Carlos is our first baseman of the future," Beane said. "Obviously, probably the biggest need on our club was for a power-hitting first baseman. We certainly think Carlos is that player."
