Major League Baseball would help the A's make the temporary move to AT&T Park, which likely would be the first step toward the team leaving the Bay Area, the newspaper reports.

But A's owner Lew Wolff responded to the report Monday, saying the team will extend its Oakland Coliseum lease and "look(s) forward to another great season."

The small-budget A's have won consecutive American League West titles, losing in five games of the division series to Detroit in each of the past Octobers. The Coliseum, shared with the NFL's Oakland Raiders, had multiple sewage problems in 2013.

Wolff hopes to move the team to San Jose, but has been been negotiating a lease extension with the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority for the past two years. Under the old lease, the A's managed concessions for all sporting events, including Raiders games, and got a major share of the revenue. Coliseum officials want to change the terms to be less favorable to the baseball team.

"Now we have to do this lease quickly because Major League Baseball has injected itself into the conversations," one board member told the newspaper.

Moving games to San Francisco won't be easy, but the Giants could be agreeable because the arrangment ultimately could led the A's to abandon the idea of moving to San Jose — territory that MLB considers the Giants'.


YANKS EYEING INFANTE?


The New York Yankees could be looking at Plan B in case they are unable to re-sign free agent second baseman Robinson Cano.

The New York Post reports GM Brian Cashman has "checked on" free agent second baseman Omar Infante of the Detroit Tigers. Teams are allowed to start negotiating deals with free agents Tuesday.

The Yankees remain the front-runner for Cano, the five-time All-Star who has played his entire nine-year career in New York. The 31-year-old is considered the top free agent in this year's class.

Infante, 31, hit .318/.345/.450 with 10 home runs in 118 games for the Tigers in 2013.


TORRE, LA RUSSA, COX ON BALLOT


Retired managers Joe Torre, Tony La Russa and Bobby Cox will join holdovers George Steinbrenner and Marvin Miller on the Hall of Fame expansion era committee ballot next month.

Dave Concepcion, Steve Garvey, Tommy John, Billy Martin and Ted Simmons also are held over from the 2010 ballot, while Dave Parker and Dan Quisenberry have been added. Vida Blue, Ron Guidry, Al Oliver and Rusty Staub have been dropped.

The committee will meet at the winter meetings in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., and its vote will be announced there Dec. 9.

Torre and Cox retired as managers after the 2010 season and La Russa after leading the St. Louis Cardinals to the 2011 World Series title.


REPORT: A-ROD FAILED TEST


 Alex Rodriguez tested positive for a banned stimulant in 2006, The New York Times reported Monday, an accusation a spokesman for the New York Yankees third baseman denied.

The paper cited two people involved with baseball's drug-testing program, whom it did not identify.

Baseball's joint drug agreement specifies the discipline for a first positive test for a banned stimulant is six additional unannounced drug tests over the year following the violation. A second stimulant violation would result in a 25-game suspension.

Rodriguez spokesman Lanny Davis denied the player tested positive, the paper said. Ron Berkowitz, another Rodriguez spokesman, said Monday he expected his client's representatives would comment later in the day.

MLB chief operating officer Rob Manfred declined comment.

Contributors: Justin McGuire, The Associated Press