A's to Sacramento, then maybe Vegas?

[Banedon]

 

[CubinNY]

They hae to change their names from the Athletics to the Aces

[Sammy Sofa]

New GM:

[WrigleyField 22]

Tough few years to be an Oakland sports fan. 

[Bertz]

This just reinforces how cool what the Padres are doing is.  They saw the Chargers leave town and said "Don't let the door hit you in the way out, we're just gonna own this horsefeathering town."

[Brock Beauchamp]

No team has moved more than the A's, right? Seems impossible that anyone has picked up and moved more than they have.

[Andy]

5 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

No team has moved more than the A's, right? Seems impossible that anyone has picked up and moved more than they have.

I think among MLB teams that's correct, but the Sacramento Kings are right there. That franchise has been Rochester, Cincinnati, Kansas City-Omaha (I love that teams used to split their home games, what a ridiculous relic of the past), Kansas City and now Sacramento.

[Brock Beauchamp]

2 minutes ago, TomtheBombadil said:

Doesn’t Vegas have massive water issues especially longer term and is actually a terrible place for a team from an everythingbutmoney perspective? FanGraphs had an article on Salt Lake City that made it seem more appealing 

I lived in Utah and SoCal for about half my life. I had family in Vegas for a decade.

I think Vegas is going to be a pretty bad baseball town after a few years. It's not that big, there are a ton of transplants, a billion things to do, and filling a stadium 81 times a year will be a challenge.

I still don't understand why teams aren't aggressively pursuing the Carolinas. The population is massive, it's rapidly growing, and there aren't any baseball teams that are particularly close.

[jersey cubs fan]

25 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

No team has moved more than the A's, right? Seems impossible that anyone has picked up and moved more than they have.

Braves? Boston, Milwaukee, Atlanta, Cobb County. 
 

A’s will catch them if they make this move. 

[Tim]

Does Puerto Rico count for the Expos/Nats?

[Brock Beauchamp]

2 minutes ago, jersey cubs fan said:

Braves? Boston, Milwaukee, Atlanta, Cobb County. 
 

A’s will catch them if they make this move. 

Ah yes, I forgot the Boston Braves.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Just now, Tim said:

Does Puerto Rico count for the Expos/Nats?

I don't count that, it was so ill-conceived and short-lived. 

[Tim]

btw - I'm a bit disappointed the title wasn't "Leaving (for) Las Vegas"

[jersey cubs fan]

7 minutes ago, Tim said:

btw - I'm a bit disappointed the title wasn't "Leaving (for) Las Vegas"

Tony LaRussa getting ready for the move 

[WrigleyField 22]

Yea Vegas does seem destined to be a short term destination. Like they'll definitely want a better long term market in 15 years. But I can see why As want to stay closer to current market rather than a cross country trek to the Carolinas. Vegas being more appealing than a few other pacific cities though 🤷‍♂️

[Brian707]

Hockey works in Vegas, NFL works. I agree baseball will be tougher with 81 games and a stadium of 40K to fill

[squally1313]

I'd also assume, but don't know for sure, that the big majority of tourism comes in during the winter months. Don't think there are nearly as many people getting out to Vegas during the June-August stretch. 

The other side of that, of course, is that, given the alternative, the goal doesn't have to be filling a 40k stadium 81 times a year. 25k a game puts them in a significantly better position. 

Anecdotally, going to a bachelor party out there next month and it was exceedingly difficult to get tickets to the Savannah Bananas game out there (capacity 10k). So there's an appetite for some sort of baseball at least. 

[stitchface]

31 minutes ago, Tim said:

btw - I'm a bit disappointed the title wasn't "Leaving (for) Las Vegas"

thread titles have taken a massive turn for the boring recently.

[UMFan83]

Funny thing about this is, in the 80s the Giants were threatening to move to Tampa and I think many people expected them to bolt.  The A's owner put up no opposition to the Giants claiming territorial rights to the rapidly expanding South Bay in order to build a stadium, with the A's owner saying that its great to have 2 teams in the metro area or something to that effect.  At the time the A's were possibly the more dominant franchise in the city, or at least on par.

Fast forward to the 2010s after the Giants ended up building a stadium in SF city limits, and the A's were looking to build a stadium in the South Bay and were denied by the Giants due to territorial rights.  Now the A's are going to move, giving SF the entire market to themselves.

I know this is a well known issue, I just wanted to mention it because its crazy how avoidable this was.

 

All that said, I don't understand the relationship between SF and Oakland having never lived there.  I understand Oakland has its own identity and all that so its not like "oh well you lost your sports teams, just root for the Giants and 49ers".  But it also kind of is long term...they will just be accepted as the sports teams for the entire Bay area eventually right?

[stitchface]

1 hour ago, UMFan83 said:

Funny thing about this is, in the 80s the Giants were threatening to move to Tampa and I think many people expected them to bolt.  The A's owner put up no opposition to the Giants claiming territorial rights to the rapidly expanding South Bay in order to build a stadium, with the A's owner saying that its great to have 2 teams in the metro area or something to that effect.  At the time the A's were possibly the more dominant franchise in the city, or at least on par.

Fast forward to the 2010s after the Giants ended up building a stadium in SF city limits, and the A's were looking to build a stadium in the South Bay and were denied by the Giants due to territorial rights.  Now the A's are going to move, giving SF the entire market to themselves.

I know this is a well known issue, I just wanted to mention it because its crazy how avoidable this was.

 

All that said, I don't understand the relationship between SF and Oakland having never lived there.  I understand Oakland has its own identity and all that so its not like "oh well you lost your sports teams, just root for the Giants and 49ers".  But it also kind of is long term...they will just be accepted as the sports teams for the entire Bay area eventually right?

most likely. truth is the Giants and 49ers stadiums are a pain in the ass to get to so a well thought out stadium probably would have worked. the existing Coliseum is not nice and is a not great neighborhood (probably an understatement).

The A's have a character all their own and always have felt less corporate to me from letting the neighborhoods kids in for free, the reasonable prices and the odd characters in the stands. Giants games feel sterile and the damn fans can't stay in their seats or off their phones.

 

but, the younger fans, if there are any, will pick up the local team, especially if they win. Unless they have a dad or mom that does things like post on this site . . . 

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Oracle Park is hard to get to?  Isn't it right downtown and right next multiple train lines?  I guess it's a bit of a walk from the BART but still within a mile.  I've never been but I always thought of it as among the more accessible MLB parks.

[Tim]

3 minutes ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

Oracle Park is hard to get to?  Isn't it right downtown and right next multiple train lines?  I guess it's a bit of a walk from the BART but still within a mile.  I've never been but I always thought of it as among the more accessible MLB parks.

It's pretty accessible if you're on the peninsula - especially the upper half. It's a slog if you're across the bay or down in San Jose

[Transmogrified Tiger]

3 minutes ago, Tim said:

It's pretty accessible if you're on the peninsula - especially the upper half. It's a slog if you're across the bay or down in San Jose

I have no experience across the bay, but the Caltrain line that runs all the way to Gilroy drops you off next door to the stadium and runs pretty frequently. Seems about as good as you can hope for if you're starting 50 miles away in San Jose.

[stitchface]

7 minutes ago, Tim said:

It's pretty accessible if you're on the peninsula - especially the upper half. It's a slog if you're across the bay or down in San Jose

I said a pain in the ass not hard . . .  lol. It takes forever and its a walk from BART after the game with the trolleys absolutely packed. BART also doesn't run super late so you risk missing the last train if the game goes extra innings.

[champaignchris]

Vegas doesn’t seem like a great move for all the reasons people have already mentioned. 
 

North Carolina and San Antonio/Austin seem like the US markets best suited to take on a team.  I don’t know if the Rangers/Astros would have the ability to make trouble for another Texas team. 
 

Montreal is probably the best North American option overall, but it seems like the Rays are the ones flirting with Canada.  Problem with the Rays moving is that baseball will need another team to move into the huge and growing Tampa/Orlando area. I still think the best option for them is to build a new stadium on the Tampa side of the Bay.