The Oakland Athletics late last week entered an agreement to purchase land in Las Vegas for a new stadium, and that suggests the club will be relocating to the Nevada gambling mecca at some point in the reasonably near future. While such a move is not yet guaranteed, this marks the boldest step yet in the ongoing A's saga.
Not surprisingly, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred during his Monday appearance at an Associated Press Sports Editors event was asked about the A's situation. Noteworthy among his remarks is Manfred's apparent casting of blame at A's fans and Oakland city leaders for what's come to pass. Manfred on Monday said:
"The situation in Oakland … John (A's owner Fisher) spent at least $100 million trying to get a stadium built in Oakland. That drains your resources. You look at their attendance. You can say chicken or the egg. But their attendance has never been outstanding, let me put it that way."
And:
"I feel sorry for the fans in Oakland. But for the city of Oakland to point fingers at John Fisher is not fair. … We have shown an unbelievable commitment to the fans in Oakland by exhausting every opportunity to try to get something done in Oakland, and unfortunately the government doesn't seem to have the will to get it done."
While home attendance in Oakland has never been among the highest tallies in the game, it's cratered of late because team ownership traded off every player of worth -- leaving behind what's looking like one of the worst rosters in the history of the game -- and also raised ticket prices.
That combination of decisions suggests malice aforethought when it comes to declining attendance and the use of it as a rationale for relocation. As well, the city of Oakland has indeed been working to provide the A's with the corporate welfare they seek, but the process has been a slow and halting one.
In the end the motivation for relocation threats is always to extort promises of public money from one locale or another, and it almost always works. In the A's case, it seems likely that Las Vegas will be the city to pay those going rates, and Manfred's comments reflect that emerging reality.
