Report: Oakland Athletics stadium uncertainty impacting free agency
Dec 7, 2023, 11:31 AM | Updated: 11:37 am
(Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
(Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
While baseball fans watch to see what happens with major free agents, the Oakland Athletics are trying to convince players to play for a team without a home after the 2024 season.
Earlier this offseason, MLB owners unanimously approved the organization’s relocation from the Bay Area to Las Vegas. But, the earliest a stadium could open in Sin City is 2028, three years after the A’s lease at the Oakland Coliseum expires.
According to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, the A’s are “expected to play in a variety of sites after their Oakland Coliseum lease expires after the 2024 season, including at the Giants’ ballpark in San Francisco and Summerlin, Nevada, the A’s Triple-A site.”
But nothing has yet to be announced. And that’s something general manager David Forst said he’s had to tell agents.
“We’re sort of taking it a year at a time right now,” Forst said, “because it’s hard to plan for even ’25 without knowing what that looks like from a venue standpoint or revenue standpoint, any of those things.”
Even super agent Scott Boras told the Chronicle he doesn’t understand what the league is doing.
“It’s just so hard. I’m a Bay Area guy, and you see a team that is a nomad for three years, Boras told John Shea at MLB’s Winter Meetings. “They don’t even know where they’re going.”
Coming off of a 112-loss season, the A’s have plenty of holes to fill on their roster. But, so far this season, the Oakland Athletics have only signed former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Osvaldo Bido. The team will likely have to wait until all the big names have signed before they’re able to build their roster around young talent like Esteury Ruiz or Tyler Soderstrom.
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