Momentum Building For A's Move to Las Vegas

It's a dark day for those that want to see the A's remain in Oakland

Things had been a little too quiet on the A's/Howard Terminal front in recent months. That is, until new Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao's statement to Sarah Ravani of the San Francisco Chronicle.

"I am deeply disappointed that the A's have chosen not to negotiate with the City of Oakland as a true partner, in a way that respects the long relationship between the fans, the City and the team. The City has gone above and beyond in our attempts to arrive at mutually beneficial terms to keep the A's in Oakland. In the last three months, we've made significant strides to close the deal."

"Yet, it is clear to me that the A's have no intention of staying in Oakland and have simply been using this process to try to extract a better deal out of Las Vegas. I am not interested in continuing to play that game--the fans and our residents deserve better."

"I am incredibly proud of what we have accomplished as a City, including securing a fully entitled site and over $375 million in new infrastructure investment that will benefit Oakland and its Port for generations to come."

"In a time of budget deficits, I refuse to compromise the safety and well-being of our residents. Given these realities, we are ceasing negotiations and moving forward on alternatives for redevelopment of Howard Terminal." 

This statement comes after Mick Akers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that the Oakland A's had signed a binding purchase agreement for land "just west of the Strip where a major-league ballpark could be constructed."

Dave Kaval told Akers: "For a while we were on parallel paths (with Oakland), but we have turned our attention to Las Vegas to get a deal here for the A’s and find a long-term home. Oakland has been a great home for us for over 50 years, but we really need this 20-year saga completed and we feel there’s a path here in Southern Nevada to do that."

Rob Manfred also gave a statement to Akers: "We support the A’s turning their focus on Las Vegas and look forward to them bringing finality to this process by the end of the year."

This is an extremely tough blow to fan's hopes of the A's staying in Oakland. Between all three statements, it seems like a pretty done deal.

But if we have learned anything from twenty years of ballpark news, it's that nothing is official until shovels are in the ground. The A's also had a two sites picked out in Oakland, as well as one previously in Fremont. Having a site doesn't mean that it's a done deal, but the verbiage used by the Oakland Mayor as well as Dave Kaval and Commissioner Manfred doesn't leave a lot of room for hope at the moment.