Oakland Mayor still open A's return

Jason Burke | Sep 13, 2024

May 26, 2024; Oakland, California, USA; A general view of the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum from the centerfield bleachers before the game between the Oakland Athletics and the Houston Astros at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Robert Edwards-Imagn Images / Robert Edwards-Imagn Images

The Oakland A's Sacramento plan has been under scrutiny a bit this week. We broke the news that there is no guarantee that the A's, should they reach the postseason while stationed in Sacramento, would play those postseason games at Sutter Health Park. Yesterday, some quotes from agent and Elk Grove native Scott Boras were making it sound as though the A's planned move to Sacramento in 2025 could be in jeopardy.

Those comments led to MLB issuing a statement that the A's move up north is a "certainty" for the 2025 season. We also confirmed that the Triple-A River Cats would be playing at their home ballpark next season, since it appeared that one way to guarantee the A's arrival would be to get rid of the yet-to-be-installed turf field, which is only necessary if two teams are sharing the facility.

Not long after those statements were issued, Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao hopped on Brodie Brazil's YouTube channel to discuss a number of topics, and of course one of them was the Oakland A's.

The mayor brought up Boras' comments about the likely unsafe conditions with the outdoor turf field in Sacramento, among other concerns such as the facilities not being "big league."

She then said that with AASEG being the sole owner of the Coliseum site, after the city of Oakland sold their half and the A's sold theirs, that she would welcome a conversation with the A's about returning to the Coliseum if things prove untenable in Sacramento.

"Being that AASEG is the only owner now, I think that if John Fisher and his team would like to come back and have that conversation with AASEG, it's more than welcome."

Mayor Thao spoke about how the city and the county having their own representation and their own staff could sometimes make it difficult to make progress at the Coliseum site, so having one group in control could be a key difference if the A's were to explore the possibility of returning.

"Again, [AASEG} have a track record now of being able to successfully work with the A's to begin with."

Even though the A's announced their relocation in June of 2023 and that the 2024 season would be their last in Oakland earlier this year, this journey keeps adding twists and turns. Only time will tell what the final stop will be and how we'll get there.