Tampa Bay Rays, New York Yankees deal puts Oakland's ask into perspective

Jason Burke | Nov 19, 2024

Aug 24, 2024; Oakland, California, USA; A general view of Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum as seen from fan seating section 317 before a major league baseball game between the Oakland Athletics and the Milwaukee Brewers. Mandatory Credit: Robert Edwards-Imagn Images / Robert Edwards-Imagn Images

Earlier this year when the Athletics didn't know where they'd be playing games in 2025, they came to the table with Oakland to negotiate a lease extension. Yet, after years of charging the A's a sweetheart rate of around $1 million per season, the city was not ready to play nice given that the team was headed out the door. They wanted terms that favored the city, and also included a slight dig.

Among other requirements, Oakland asked for $97 million in rent to be paid on a five-year contract which included the ability to opt-out after three years, when the A's are hoping their proposed ballpark in Las Vegas will be built. That $97 million figure was no accident, as that was the reported difference between the A's and Oakland to finalize a deal at Howard Terminal and keep the A's in The Town.

Given that the A's may not be ready to open their ballpark in Vegas by 2028, if at all, those extra years would have come in handy if any obstacles were to arise, and they would have also made the per season rate go down on that rent. Over the span of a five year commitment, that $97 million would have been $19.4 million per year.

That's where the agreement that the Tampa Bay Rays made with the New York Yankees comes into play. The Rays will be using the Yankees spring home at Steinbrenner Field during the regular season in 2025, due to the impact of Hurricane Milton on their home ballpark, Tropicana Field, being unplayable for the upcoming season and needing repairs made to the roof.

The Rays came to terms with the Yankees to use Steinbrenner Field for next season, and are giving the Yankees $15 million as payment to use the facilities. Steinbrenner Field is also home of the Yankees Single-A affiliate, the Tampa Tarpons.

Just so we're clear, while the Oakland asking price was certainly also meant as a dig given the specific figure they chose, it was also a fairly reasonable rate if we use this deal between the Rays and Yankees to judge the market price. Tampa Bay is paying $15 million to play in a Single-A minor-league park. The A's were being offered a Major League facility for $19.4 million per year.

The biggest difference between these two situations is that the A's is more of a long-term ask that would span multiple years, while the Rays figure to be out of there after the 2025 season. There is also the fact that A's owner John Fisher has bumbled his way so poorly through this relocation, that fans have been protesting him for the past two years in Oakland, and he likely figured that picking up and leaving would help quiet some of that extra noise.

In the meantime, he called up a buddy up north and will have his team crash on the River Cats' couch in Sacramento for three years, and he won't have to pay anything in rent to make that one happen. That is obviously the better deal in a business sense, though it does cap ticket sales at about 14,000 for big games. But it should also be known that Oakland's asking price wasn't too gaudy, either.

It should also be noted that Oakland came back with an offer that didn't have a flat $97 million attached to it, given that the team could theoretically be ready to dip before the five years were up, and according to the San Francisco Chronicle, they presented a three-year, $60 million offer, which is right in that same per year wheelhouse.

This is just one of those things that seemed worth taking a look back at, given the new data of an agreed upon deal out east, and that so many people were saying Oakland was asking for too much and shooting themselves in the foot. The rent ask sure seems fair now.