Would a New Mayor in Oakland Lead to a New Ballpark for A's?
We were told that the Oakland A's simply ran out of time to get something built in The Town. That's why they shifted their attention to Las Vegas, and subsequently moved forward their plans for relocation. Over a year later, we're still waiting for those plans to have some concrete surrounding them. Ground breaking for the proposed Vegas ballpark is tentatively scheduled for next spring, and there is still a lot that needs to happen to meet that deadline and stay on track to open their proposed ballpark in 2028.
At the same time, Oakland's Mayor Sheng Thao is in some hot water after the FBI raided her home last week in connection to an investigation of illegal political contributions. In Thao's press conference earlier this week, she claimed to have done nothing wrong and said she would cooperate with the ongoing investigation.
Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote a column with some insight into a question that has been on the minds of A's fans: If Thao is removed from office, either because of recent events or the looming recall election in November, would the A's come back to the table with Oakland to discuss a ballpark?
From Ostler: "Sources close to Oakland politics tell us that if the Town were to get a new mayor, the change might provide an opportunity for the A’s and Oakland to discuss a reunion."
Now, this is still an extreme long shot for A's fans that are still holding out hope that the team sticks around, but it's a drop of that sweet hopium, and that can be so tantalizing.
One way to look at this scenario would be that the A's have been full steam ahead on Las Vegas for a year now, and the public reception has been lukewarm at best. They are also fighting legal challenges from Schools Over Stadiums, and there are concerns about both the cost of the ballpark being more than expected, and the site of the ballpark being all wrong. There's also the fact that finding business partners hasn't gone too well either, so the actual funding for this project hasn't been terribly smooth. In other words, it hasn't been as easy as the team may have expected to get something built in Las Vegas.
All of those headaches could lead to the A's being willing to sit down with a potential new mayor in Oakland. The thing is, they'll be looking for a better deal than they were previously getting in order to change their minds, and that deal may not be in the best interests of the people of Oakland.
There are some other sticky issues that would also need to be resolved as well. Not only would the A's and Oakland need to come to an agreement, but the team is also expecting to play games in Sacramento for at least the next three years. If the A's do a complete 180 and somehow find their way back to Oakland, then would they still plan to play in Sacramento? They have an agreement to honor, after all.
One would have to think that the team would attempt to be back in Oakland, playing at the Coliseum, as quickly as possible under these circumstances. Not only would they be saving the franchise from the embarrassment of playing in a Triple-A ballpark for an elongated period of time, but they would be saving the players from taking the field in 110-120 degree weather, with the turf playing surface adding an additional 30 degrees.
That scenario wouldn't be good for the A's own players, and it's a MLBPA grievance waiting to happen once other teams start taking the field during the summer months.
The one big hurdle for the A's staying in Oakland pipe dream is that the team is supposed to finalize their binding agreements with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitor's Authority (LVCVA) in the near future. These will cover the ballpark’s construction, the A’s lease for the stadium and the team’s operating practices for the ballpark. The next meeting with the LVCSA is in July, and those documents need some signatures for the team's relocation plans to stay on track for next spring. Once those have John Fisher's John Hancock, then the move would be pretty difficult to pull out of.
A new mayor could breathe life into ballpark negotiations in Oakland. The real questions are what it would take to keep the team at this point, whether that's a good deal for Oaklanders, and what kind of reception the team would receive after everything they've put their fans through.
JASON BURKE
Jason is the host of the Locked on A's podcast, and the managing editor of Inside the A's. He's a new father and can't wait to take his son to his first baseball game at the Coliseum.