Overnight, we learned that the Oakland A’s were more serious than ever about their plans to move to Vegas. It’s not that we doubted it, but it’s been made pretty clear.
The current plan is to see the A’s build a ballpark on newly acquired land in Las Vegas in preparation for the 2027 season.
Needless to say, Oakland fans, who already knew they were living on borrowed time, didn’t find her exactly funny. For them, it’s a blow.
As with Expos fans 20 years ago…
But there, you have to think about the follow-up of things in the short term. That’s all well and good in 2027, but until then there are four big baseball seasons left to play — including 2023, which has only just begun.
Will the fans be there until September 2026? You know like me that the answer is no. They are not there now and they will not be there in four years.
Especially if the club is so cheap and the owners don’t‘not inject money to improve it.
What that means, to me, is that we have to find an alternative. After all, the club can use the $62.2m in profit made in 2022 (on the backs of wealthy clubs and deals from veterans for prospects) to help get the ball rolling.
Already that the old stadium of the A’s is ugly (and that it is the home of an opossum), a solution must be found.
Be aware that the A’s lease will also end after the 2024 season. Already there, that could force them to find a new home for 2025 and 2026. There is a world where the lease is extended, but I find it hard to believe.
I don’t see them stretching the sauce any longer than 2024…and I even believe there is a world in which the A’s would break their 2024 lease in order to play elsewhere.
In both cases, I imagine them making the decision to play in their AAA stadium, which is located in Las Vegas. Well…
Could the A’s move their farmhouse elsewhere in 2024 to free up space to renovate, seat in the outfield and play there in 2025 and 2026? Maybe yes.
At the moment, the stadium is not fit to host Major League matches… but it’s better than the A’s stadium at the moment.
The question I ask myself is, did the fact that the NHL gave the Arizona Coyotes the right to temporarily relocate to a college arena open a Pandora’s box for the A’s to use?
After all, people cry in Tempe, but Gary Bettman still gets his way…
If not, could the A’s go play in another Major League stadium? In their spring stadium in Arizona? I don’t think the Diamondbacks would, though. #Territory
It looks like the solutions we were trying to find for the Blue Jays when the pandemic hit and a stadium in the United States had to be temporarily found.
And no, the Olympic Stadium, which will no longer be able to host baseball soon, is not an option.
Could the Raiders make room for the A’s in the short term? Can Vancouver, once a backup option for the Diamondbacks in times of need, be too? At this point, I dare to believe that everything is on the table, but the small Vegas stadium may be the solution.
- Madison Bumgarner’s work ethic was in question.
- Excellent debate. I don’t think MadBum deserves its place.
- A suspension to Max Scherzer would hurt Brett Baty.
