"When Jason Giambi returned to the A's last winter, he and Oakland general manager Billy Beane spoke about "getting the band back together," and Beane said he felt as if he was marrying his ex-wife again.

On Friday, the relationship ended for a second time when the A's gave Giambi his unconditional release. Beane said that the decision "was not something any of us envisioned" when the 2000 AL MVP signed with Oakland in January, but Beane cited the team's last-place standing, the need to find playing time for youngsters such as Tommy Everidge, and Giambi's performance as reasons for the decision.

Giambi was batting a major-league low .193 when he went on the disabled list with a strained quadriceps muscle July 20.

He was not available for comment Friday but his agent, Arn Tellem, said in a statement, "Jason is 100 percent healthy and definitely plans to continue playing. He is confident he'll be able to contribute to a team down the stretch." The A's will pay Giambi $1.25 million to buy out the team option for 2010.

Professionally, it wasn't a difficult decision, Beane said, but "with a guy like Jason, the personal part is the hard part." Beane said he'd indicated to Giambi at the All-Star break that the team was considering giving younger players more time in the second half and that Giambi took that very professionally. Beane called Giambi as upbeat as always when released.

When the A's signed Giambi, traded for Matt Holliday and then, during spring training, added Nomar Garciaparra and Orlando Cabrera, there was anticipation that the team might substantially improve on consecutive sub-.500 seasons. Garciaparra is the only one who remains.

"I think collectively there was an excitement about this year and it had a lot to do with Matt and Jason," longest-tenured A's player Eric Chavez said by phone. "But it didn't go the way everyone wanted, and you have to adjust. We've been through this before. Does anything shock anyone anymore? I've always been a fan of the fact that it's all about the organization here - no player is indispensable.""