Not official, but Rob Manfred makes A's appear Las Vegas-bound
Fans look toward the U.S. flag during the national anthem during a baseball game between the Oakland Athletics and the Tampa Bay Rays at Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., Tuesday, June 13, 2023. Thousands of frustrated, heartbroken A's fans arrived early for tailgating and solidarity at the Oakland Coliseum ahead of a Rays-A's matchup to both celebrate their team and protest a planned relocation to Las Vegas. Credit: AP/Santiago Mejia
The A’s still need approval from MLB’s owners to complete their relocation to Las Vegas, but commissioner Rob Manfred certainly made it sound like Oakland’s baseball franchise is a goner.
Manfred was peppered with questions Thursday about the planned move after A’s owner John Fisher dodged reporters during this week’s meetings in Manhattan. On Wednesday, the Nevada Legislature green-lighted $380 million in public funding for the proposed $1.5 billion retractable-roof stadium on the Strip, essentially guaranteeing the team’s defection from Oakland.
As a result, Manfred was asked Thursday if he expected current A’s fans in the Bay Area to remain fans if the franchise relocated.
“I hope so,” Manfred said. “I hope they stay baseball fans whatever team they decide to affiliate with. The piece of this particular series of events that’s the most disturbing to me is the idea of fans that have supported the team losing a team. We hate that idea.”
Manfred described the application process for relocation as “rigorous” — detailing the myriad reasons for why the present home city failed and the other is more promising (in this case, the A’s are leaving the nation’s 10th biggest TV market for the 40th). But Manfred lamented the failed efforts to get more stadium infrastructure support (i.e. money) from the Bay Area and seemed resigned to the move.
“It has always been baseball’s policy and preference to stay put,” Manfred said. “And I think that always colors any conversation about relocation. Having said that, I think the owners as a whole understand that there has been a multi-year, approaching a decade effort, where the vast majority of the time the sole focus was Oakland.
“Believe me — and I hear from them — I feel sorry for the fans in Oakland. I do not like this outcome. I understand why they feel the way they do. I think that the real question is what is it that Oakland was prepared to do? There is no Oakland offer. They never got to the point where they had a plan to build a stadium at any site . . . And at some point, you come to the realization it’s just not going to happen.”
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
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