Oakland Athletics: Oakland Ballpark or Bust?

The Oakland Athletics ballpark situation has gone unresolved for a number of reasons for over a decade. Some believe that Major League Baseball has no intentions of letting the A’s leave Oakland, so they had better start working with the city on a new ballpark solution.

Here is a quick synopsis of the ballpark trouble over the past decade or so. Owner Lew Wolff, the face of the ownership group, had his sights set on a new ballpark in the South Bay (think Fremont, San Jose area) with the intention of building around it and making his money back that way. He made his fortune in real estate after all.

That move was blocked by the San Francisco Giants, who have territorial rights over Santa Clara County with their Hi-A team located in San Jose. A diplomatic approach was taken with both the Giants and Major League Baseball in an attempt to resolve this issue, but after four years the A’s were back where they started. Last year the city of San Jose sued Major League Baseball for stalling a plan to move the A’s down south. The legal fight went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, who refused to hear the case.

Last week, majority owner John Fisher took a look at a potential ballpark location at Howard Terminal, which is close to Jack London Square, but not easily accessible by freeway or local transit.

On Monday, Bay Area columnist Ray Ratto discussed the situation at Pitch Talks in San Francisco, saying that “baseball is now mad at the A’s for letting San Jose sue them. They had better figure something out with the city of Oakland, because baseball isn’t going to let them go anywhere else.” This is paraphrased, but the general gist of what Ratto was going for.

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The reasoning for Ratto’s thoughts are the words from Commissioner Manfred: “I am committed to Oakland as a Major League site.” This is a not-so-thinly-veiled “threat” if you believe in grudges over lawsuits.

He also mentioned that the Raiders sharing a stadium with the Oakland Athletics has not helped the situation much, but once the Raiders situation is resolved, the A’s ownership group will have no more excuses to get a deal done.

This was just days after the Raiders started trademarking numerous versions of Las Vegas Raiders.

The point was also made that the ownership group could make a large sum of money by getting this ballpark issue resolved. Either they build the park and enjoy more fans at the games, etc., or they could sell the team once a ballpark solution has been agreed upon since a team would never be as valuable as when there is a new venue on the table.

Regardless of where the dang ballpark ends up being within the city of Oakland, fans just want this never-ending episode to be over and done with. Flushed away will be the sewage jokes and the fact that one of the most beautiful parks in baseball is just across the bay, home to one of the team’s most hated rivals.

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Whether or not this, or potentially, a new ownership group decides to increase payroll is another question entirely.