The Oakland Athletics’ move to Las Vegas is not yet finalized, but it’s already an assumption: they will, in all likelihood, be playing there before the end of the decade.
The A’s had a three-year contention window active from 2018-20.
After missing the playoffs in 2021 while being buyers at the deadline, they decided to tear things apart and start over.
The “start over” ended up being really painful for Oakland baseball fans: instead of focusing efforts to retooling and trying to put a competitive team on the field, ownership directed their time and energy to engineer a move out of Oakland.
They think that, with the revenues of a new stadium in Las Vegas, they can get enough money to be players in free agency.
“The A’s are anticipating a ‘completely new day in terms of the on-field product’ following their expected relocation to Las Vegas,” the WSJ’s Lindsey Adler tweeted.
the a's are anticipating a "completely new day in terms of the on-field product" following their expected relocation to las vegas: https://t.co/15MUY6cZKy pic.twitter.com/5837oNWheN
— Lindsey Adler (@lindseyadler) August 16, 2023
Team president Dave Kaval said that “the entire Moneyball system that Billy Beane (president of baseball operations) devised was based on the fact that we had limited resources.”
It’s certainly encouraging for Vegas fans, but until we see it, it will be just words.
They could have worked something out in Oakland to do the same thing there, with a fanbase that was already invested in the franchise.
They had a chance to build a new park in Oakland, but once they made up their minds on Vegas, nobody could get that idea out of their heads.
NEXT: The A's Are Posting A Truly Horrific Mark In 2023