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September 16, 2011
Meet the new Giants boss, same as the old boss
For anyone hoping that the news of Bill Neukom stepping down as lead owner of the San Francisco Giants would lead to a break in the impasse with the Oakland A's over territorial rights to San Jose, you can stop hoping:
Larry Baer, who is becoming CEO when Bill Neukom retires at the end of the year, said Thursday that the Giants' stance on territorial rights in the Bay Area is fixed.
"There is no change on that position," Baer told reporters Thursday. "It's a position Bill's had, a position our board has had, a position I have."
A's owner Lew Wolff told the San Francisco Chronicle he'd have no comment on his nemesis Neukom's departure, then opined: ""If I were the Giants, I'd feel more confident the longer it takes. I don't think they'd be right." Asked what he thinks about prospects for a resolution overall, he replied: "I have no idea." Does this count as depression or acceptance?
Luckily their "hardline" stance is something that MLB and a little money can quickly dissipate. And fact remains that minus Neukom there is one less "hardliner" in the Giants ownership. And second, we've now been made aware that more than anything the Giants owners are concerned with money, so someone waving a big check in their face will be pretty appealing.
Posted by Dan on September 16, 2011 11:15 AM
Even with the departure of billy "bow-tie", the A's (as in a daze) are still caught between a rock (Giants) and a hard place (nowhere else to move to as leverage).
Lew-Lew and the ownership group want SJ cheap and the Giants aren't going to give in for less than they want. No matter how many millions embezzled and unwisely spent their revenue sources still dwarf the A's.
On Tuesday, our mayor in Sacramento made a public statement that Sacramento is a baseball town, and hinted they should try to attract the A's.
The comment thread on that news story got very humorous, very quickly.
blogs.sacbee.com/city-beat/2011/09/mayor-sacramento-is-a-baseball-town-could-support-as.html
Posted by MikeM on September 16, 2011 12:36 PM
Giants are good at making money but lousy at spending it. A's have the opposite issue but imagine the A's in San Jose (Or, better yet, a new stadium in Jack London Square) with potentially twice the revenue? Time for Lew to step up and get a stadium done in JLS before the price doubles again...
Posted by Dean on September 19, 2011 12:57 PM
Giants are good at making money but lousy at spending it. A's have the opposite issue but imagine the A's in San Jose (Or, better yet, a new stadium in Jack London Square) with potentially twice the revenue? Time for Lew to step up and get a stadium done in JLS before the price doubles again...
Posted by Dean on September 19, 2011 12:57 PM