Things are happening around a potential Oakland A’s move to Las Vegas, if you’re not too picky about what you mean by “happening”:
- MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, whose job is to help team owners shake loose stadium money by any means necessary, answered a question yesterday about progress on an Oakland stadium by saying, “Look, I think the best way for me to answer that is to say I think that the focus since I spoke to you in December really has been on Las Vegas.” (Manfred’s superpower is never to use one word when a dozen will do.) A spokesperson for newly elected Oakland mayor Sheng Thao said Manfred hasn’t actually called her yet, and Manfred added, “If [A’s owner John Fisher] had to rank [Oakland and Vegas] one and two, you’d have to ask him that,” but still this was enough to score a San Francisco Chronicle headline reading “Focus of A’s ballpark pursuit has shifted to Las Vegas, MLB commissioner says,” so Manfred earns his pay for the day.
- Over in Las Vegas, newly elected Nevada governor Joe Lombardo was asked about building a stadium for the A’s, and replied, “Those negotiations are so early in the process that it would be detrimental for me to even talk about any details. Right now it’s all been ancillary conversations.” This was enough to score a Las Vegas Review-Journal headline reading, “Lombardo doesn’t rule out public funding for A’s,” which, sure, though he also didn’t rule out building a space elevator or buying everyone in the state a pony, but those didn’t make it into the headline.
And that’s about it. There has been no reported progress in talks to throw fresh public money at Fisher in either Oakland or Vegas of late, which somehow is being spun as a momentum shift toward the A’s moving to the increasingly deserty desert. Which they certainly could do, but right now the bidding stands at “$775 million and we’ll see if we can find more” in infrastructure spending in Oakland, and “reply hazy, ask again later” in Vegas. Neither is quite what Fisher wants, though, so we’re left with the sound of rattling sabers.
(Speaking of Manfred, this has nothing to do with the A’s but I have nowhere else to put it, so: The commissioner also answered a question about the impending bankruptcy of Diamond Sports Group, the owners of Bally Sports, the cable partner of nearly half of all MLB teams, by saying, “Obviously, our first choice would be that Diamond pay the clubs what they’re contractually obligated to pay them.” He is aware of how bankruptcy works, yes? Does he think that cable rights fees somehow count as alimony, because a broadcast deal is like a marriage between them and teams? I have some followup questions!)
HA!! And Oakland Mayor Thao last week stated that talks were back on with the A’s. LOL, hilarious!! So if Oakland NOR Las Vegas are gonna happen, then what? All that former ballpark land in Downtown San Jose might become available again via Google ;)
If Vegas falls through, they’ll probably start over with a new city (Portland?). Unfortunately, there looks to be more reception from A’s ownership to Vegas right now than there is to Oakland.
I mean, they haven’t started over with a new city any of the last three or five or 12 times they had Bay Area stadium plans rejected.
Well, if they do move to Portland, please let them be re-named the Battered Bastards of Baseball.
One of the best baseball documentaries out there!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Battered_Bastards_of_Baseball#:~:text=The%20Battered%20Bastards%20of%20Baseball%20is%20a%202014%20documentary%20film,League%2C%20from%201973%20through%201977.
This is so obvious I can’t believe none of you have spotted it yet… The Commissioner did not rule out Greensboro. In fact, he specifically did not mention Greensboro at all.
COINCIDENCE???
Nor has Kannapolis been specifically ruled out.
For 55 years we’ve been dedicated, loyal Oakland A’s fans, much of that time as season ticket holders. For 18 years we’ve endured the most greedy, incompetent, rude, and deceitful ownership in professional sports. The Coliseum is just fine until a new stadium is built in its parking lot. That location has the best multi-faceted transportation access of any ballpark in the country. The weather conditions are good too. We need new owners first.
Bronfman should buy the Washington Nationals and return the franchise to Montreal, leaving the Washington history in DC. They can play in Olympic stadium until a new stadium is built. The A’s could move to Washington, absorbing the Washington history, and play in National’s Park.
By gutting the team, A’s owners may be hurting their negotiating leverage in Oakland, since fans there might be getting used to life without a real team.
Oh great! Now everyone in Nevada is going to want a pony…..
Solution: Have the A’s play on a space elevator built in Neveda which it’ll need to house its pop due to climate change.
Your welcome Manfred and NV, cheques made out to Jake Davis (even if your bankrupt!)