Getty Images/Jed Jacobsohn

Lew Wolff (left) with Cisco CEO John Chambers, announced since-scuttled plans to move the team to Fremont in 2006.

Reporting on rumors can be downright irresponsible, especially if they’re presented on a bed of likelihood that doesn’t necessarily exist.

But reporting on hypothesis—no “sources say,” no “industry whispers,” just plain speculation about what could happen should the wind blow hard enough in a particular direction—can be interesting. Especially if the hypothesis makes perfect sense.

Yesterday, ESPN’s Buster Olney posited just such a what-if. It involves the A’s, and it's worth examination because it makes so much sense.

Olney’s column is behind ESPN’s premium firewall, but here’s an excerpt of what he wrote. It has to do with the increasingly desperate financial woes facing Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, in the middle of a particularly nasty divorce. If McCourt decides (or is forced) to sell the team, a prominent Bay Area figure might be interested in getting in on the action.

From Olney:

It's been awhile since Bud Selig formed the committee to study the Oakland ownership situation, with no resolution in sight for his longtime friend and former fraternity buddy Lew Wolff, the current Athletics owner. What Wolff and the Athletics want is a ballpark in San Jose, and Selig might feel as though he can't give that to him.

But if McCourt eventually has to sell the Dodgers, providing Wolff—who lives in L.A.—an opportunity to buy the Dodgers would be a heck of a compromise move for Selig, who is, above all else, a deal-maker. In a similar way, he ushered John Henry and Tom Werner—previously connected with the Marlins and Padres, respectively—into control of the Boston Red Sox.

That’s not all. Wolff, hypothesizes Olney, could bring GM Billy Beane with him to Los Angeles.

There are two reasons for this theory—and Olney makes it clear that that is all it is—to be worrisome. One is that while it would be a win for both Wolff and Selig, it would leave the A’s and their fans in some serious limbo.

The other is that it adds up so nicely.

Wolff has been desperate to leave Oakland, commissioning ballpark studies in Fremont and San Jose. He’s drawn interest from the South Bay, but the San Jose Redevelopment Agency has run into multiple roadblocks in trying to secure both land and financing, and even if they came through Wolff would still have to deal with the fact that the Giants have territorial rights to the area.

Los Angeles, however, would be perfect for him.

A’s fans, of course, would again be hung out to dry. Whether MLB would take them over until such time as a buyer could be found, as once happened with the Expos, or whether a quick-draw sale would be arranged is unknown. Just remember, the Expos moved to Washington D.C. under Selig’s watch, and if it’s a willing owner the commissioner is seeking, he’ll find more accessible bank accounts outside the Bay Area than in the 510.

It’s tough to fault Selig for something he hasn’t done, which is so far from reality that it hasn’t even reached rumor stage yet.

Except that it’s so easy to picture, based on the guy's track record. Selig takes care of himself, his buddy and his premium, big-market SoCal club, and leaves the A’s twisting in the wind. As usual.

It’s not time to freak out, A’s fans, but it certainly can't hurt to pay some extra attention.

Update: Wolff has denied any interest in the Dodgers. Of course he has.