Minneapolis ? Is Frank Thomas pricing himself out of the Oakland market? Even A’s managing partner Lew Wolff joked with Thomas telling him he was giving his agent “too much fodder for negotiations.”

Thomas got a laugh out of the comment.

With a .280 batting average, 36 homers and 98 RBIs, Thomas has become a steal with his $500,000 base salary, though he’ll earn all of his $2.6 million in bonuses and incentives.

General manager Billy Beane is handling negotiations with agent Arn Tellem, and Wolff is confident of re-signing Thomas.

“It will work out. I need to make Ken’s job easier,” said Wolff, pointing to manager Ken Macha in the dugout before the game. “We want to do what’s fair. We’re confident that he’ll sign with us.”