The Oakland Athletics franchise is currently not in very good shape.
The team traded its stars and high-priced players in the last two seasons, it finished with the worst record in the American League (60-102) in 2022, their stadium is old, and fans just don’t go to A’s games.
Why would they, when the on-field product and the stadium experience are both subpar?
A move to Las Vegas has been in the cards for years, but it hasn’t materialized for a variety of reasons.
The Commissioner understands that a solution has already dragged for far too long.
“Rob Manfred: ‘We’re past any reasonable timeline for the situation in Oakland to be resolved,'” MLB insider Bill Shaikin tweeted.
Rob Manfred: “We’re past any reasonable timeline for the situation in Oakland to be resolved.”
— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) December 6, 2022
A Frustrating Situation
The situation in Oakland is starting to become unsustainable from every angle.
There is currently a project to build a new stadium in Oakland so the franchise can stay in the Bay Area, but it hasn’t come to fruition.
The A’s can’t possibly stay in the Coliseum for long, and its lease reportedly expires after the 2024 season.
It would be a shame for the A’s to move out of Oakland, because there is a lot of baseball history in the city.
The organization has won four World Series in Oakland in addition to the five it lifted in Philadelphia.
They moved to Oakland in 1968, after a few seasons in Kansas City, and just four years later they won three consecutive Fall Classics, from 1972 to 1974.
Whether the future of the franchise is tied to Oakland or not, the league needs a resolution quickly because it has expansion plans and they can’t move forward with the A’s future still undecided.
