Cowards: Oakland A's Announce Sacramento Move And Turn Off Comments
The Oakland Athletics announced earlier Thursday that they will be moving to Sacramento, Calif., for at least the 2025-2027 seasons while they await their eventual relocation to Las Vegas in 2028.
The team alerted fans via social media posts today, which then also became the subject of controversy after the team once again disabled all comments, which led to sheer chaos online, with both casual and diehard baseball fans chastising the organization.
THE A'S WILL RELOCATE TO SACRAMENTO NEXT SEASON
The Oakland situation has been nothing short of an absolute crap show. Last year, A's owner John Fisher announced that he would be relocating the team from Oakland after its 56-year history with the city. Oakland fans, needless to say, have not been pleased whatsoever - even holding an opening day protest that saw thousands of fans remain in the parking lot rather than go inside to see the team play. In six home games this season, the A's have averaged 6,438 fans, according to ESPN.
The negative reaction only became worse after Thursday's announcement of the team shutting down any and all hope of them somehow remaining in Oakland.
THE A'S HOPE TO MOVE TO LAS VEGAS BY 2028
In a statement, A's owner John Fisher said that the team did all it could but wasn't able to come to an agreement - despite Oakland willing to renegotiate a deal to keep the team at the Coliseum while the new Las Vegas ballpark was built. Instead, Fisher made an agreement with longtime friend Vivek Ranadive. Vivek is a co-owner of the Sacramento Kings as well as the owner of the Sacramento River Cats and their Sutter Health Ballpark in West Sacramento, where the A's will temporarily play.
"We explored several locations for a temporary home, including the Oakland Coliseum," Fisher said in a statement. "Even with the long-standing relationships and good intentions on all sides in the negotiations with Oakland, the conditions to achieve an agreement seemed out of reach. We understand the disappointment this news brings to our fans, as this season marks our final one in Oakland."
It's not just emotional A's fans that are upset by what Fisher and the organization have done. Some have likened their actions to a "clown show" and a "disgrace," including ESPN's Buster Olney who went off on a number of tweets today.
Meanwhile, ESPN's Jeff Passan says that there's no guarantee that the A's will even be playing in Las Vegas as the timetable has been moved from 2027 to 2028 and possibly even 2029 before their new Vegas stadium is ready. That's if it survives a number of class action lawsuits regarding the misappropriation of taxpayer funds being used for the stadium's development.
When it comes down to it, the A's are essentially in limbo and are being squeezed dry. For MLB to sit back and let this happen is truly an atrocity. Also, there's no guarantee that fans will even show up to the new Sacramento location - which as of now is essentially a three-year lease. It will be difficult for fans to support the team knowing that they will be leaving. Meanwhile, what players are going to want to play for the organization that is in such disarray?
Maybe MLB and the A's would understand the root of fan's concerns. Oh wait, they've disabled all comments for weeks now on their social media accounts. Guess they'll never learn!