(unofficial probably not real but maybe logo courtesy of Reddit)
We're already at the calendar midpoint of the season, and this is amazingly the first week I don't have a ballpark visit or baseball travel to report on. So instead, I thought I'd write about a different sort of travel, and an all-too-familiar topic - the never-ending relocation saga of the A's. Way back in early April, the Athletics officially answered the question of where they would be playing for the next 3+ years while their new stadium in Las Vegas is supposedly getting built, by announcing a move to their temporary home 90 miles up I-80 to Sacramento. They will be taking up residency in Sutter Health Park, a minor league park that will be shared with the Sacramento River Cats of the Pacific Coast League, who are ironically a Giants affiliate but were formerly an A's affiliate for many years. The stadium opened in 2000 and seats about 14,000 people. The A's will play there through at least 2027 with an option for the 2028 season if (and when) the Vegas park has a delayed opening. During that time, they've chosen to essentially be homeless, by having no mention of Sacramento anywhere on their uniforms or team logos, which is both horrible and completely on brand for the Athletics franchise.
In many ways, this move is completely an A's move - sticking it to Oakland seemingly out of spite, and somehow making a bad situation even worse for its players and staff. But in many other ways, it's shocking and seems like a logistical nightmare that could have been avoided. One of the few good things that came out of the hostile takeover of the minor leagues by MLB in 2021 was that it geographically aligned the leagues more sensibly and reduced travel by creating 6-game series with almost every Monday off. That might be great for the River Cats, but that will make scheduling very challenging when trying to fold in the A's. There may now be scenarios where one or both teams could have road trips spanning multiple weeks. Another obvious deficiency is the capacity of the park and just the general facilities being less than or smaller than MLB standards. One could argue that the park still has a capacity twice the size of a normal Athletics crowd in Oakland, and that I'm sure the team will be forced to pour in millions to upgrade the facility, but none of that replaces the stigma that these major league players now feel like they are playing in the minor leagues. I'm sure A's players already feel embarrassed by their current playing situation, and the move to Sacramento is lateral at best. The Blue Jays made this work admirably in Buffalo in 2020-21, but that was during the pandemic due to Canadian COVID restrictions, so it was a completely different situation. There's also just the strain this must put on the players/employees and their families knowing this will be a temporary situation. They'll have to find houses and schools knowing they won't be there for more than 3 or 4 years. And what free agent would ever want to sign there? This is going to tank the payroll and big league roster even more, and will be an awful product to watch for those dozens of Sacramento fans who are excited for a taste of the big leagues. On the money side, I'd be curious to know what the revenue hit will be for that poor billionaire John Fisher. Many thought the A's would work out a lease extension in Oakland merely to keep their lucrative TV contract and stay in the larger market for awhile, so there must be some sort of financial incentive for this move that we're not aware of. As we've seen play out in the last quarter-century, money is at the heart of every single A's front office decision.
UPDATE: Erik and I are heading to Seattle bright and early tomorrow for Tour 2024! Come back next week to read all about it!
touch with baseball when his childhood heroes Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, and Jim Gantner retired but the Great Home Run Chase of 1998 reignited his passion. As a student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Erik became involved with the campus chapter of Habitat for Humanity. With this group Erik traveled to Portland, OR and Baltimore, MD to work on construction projects and help the group raise $25,000 to partially sponsor a house in Milwaukee. Also at UWM, Erik met Peter Nagel. The two attended their first Brewers game together during Opening Weekend 2003. Despite their failure to ignite the coals at their first tailgate, the two had a blast and were soon making weekly trips to the ballpark. Erik has gone on to several colleges and changed careers several times, and has moved all the way out to New Hampshire, but has always stayed true to his baseball roots by holding part-time stadium usher jobs. To this day he looks back fondly on his incredible cross-country journey.
No comments:
Post a Comment