Stephen A. Smith Blames City Of Oakland For A’s Leaving

One of the few remaining hurdles for the Oakland A's to move to Las Vegas was cleared Thursday when the 30 MLB owners voted unanimously to approve the team's relocation.

READ: MLB OWNERS UNANIMOUSLY APPROVE A’S MOVE TO LAS VEGAS

It'll mark the first relocation for Major League Baseball since 2005 and moves one of the 30 teams out of a top media market to a much smaller one. There's any number of reasons why the organization is leaving, chief among them the ownership of John Fisher. Fisher, whose net worth is estimated at $2.6 billion, could have worked to finance the construction of a stadium himself, but instead chose to take nearly $400 million from Nevada taxpayers.

Stephen A. Smith though, thinks the city of Oakland is to blame for the loss of its last sports team.

"We can feel sorry for the folks in Oakland cause I certainly do," Smith said. He continued though, saying, "The Golden State Warriors moved out of Oakland, the Oakland Raiders moved out of the city of Oakland, and now the A's follow. Now I can bring up the fact that there's 162 games in a season and the Oakland A's have only won 110 games over the last two seasons. But it ain't even about that, it's about damn possums being found in the walls of the Coliseum. It's about how dilapidated and run down those facilities appear to be. And somehow, someway the local government in the city of Oakland didn't get their act together in time to appease the team in order to cajole them into staying.

"When the football, basketball, and now the baseball team have run out of town on you, that's all that needs to be said."

But is he right?

Apr 28, 2023; Oakland Athletics fan holds a sign reading “stay, sell! #fisherout” during the sixth inning against the Cincinnati Reds. (Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports)

Plenty Of Blame To Go Round For A's Move

Smith has a point. Oakland city governance is incompetent to say the least, as the overwhelming rise in crime and decreasing quality of life indicates.

But Fisher needs to shoulder some, if not most, of the blame too.

Jeff Passan posted where the team's ranked in payroll since Fisher bought the team in 2005, and, well...it's bleak.

The A's haven't ranked in the top 20 in MLB payroll since 2007, 16 seasons ago. They've been dead last three times in that stretch, and finished in the bottom four nine times in 16 years. Fisher, quite simply, has shown no willingness to invest in the team.

An argument could be made that fans could also have gone to more games, thereby increasing revenue. But baseball games are a product like anything else, and when disinterested companies put out cheaply made products, consumers don't buy them.

Fisher though, has a get out of jail free card that other companies don't: Las Vegas and $380 million.

The city deserves to share some, if not most, of the blame for not being able to get a deal done on a new stadium or new site. At the same time though, taxpayer investments in new stadiums are almost always a terrible financial move. There are obvious benefits to having a new, world-class building. But buildings decay over time, and ownership can easily threaten to leave down the road. While the debt from its new stadium is still being paid off.

In fact, we've seen that exact scenario play out with the Milwaukee Brewers relocation threats this year.

It's a disappointing outcome for A's fans, who certainly deserved better. It's disappointing that the city of Oakland is so woefully incompetent. But it's not disappointing for MLB or for John Fisher, who are both set to reap significant financial rewards for nearly two decades of purposeful cheapness.

Rob Manfred though, disagrees.

Sure dude. Just like you'd need to see significant changes before giving Georgia another All-Star Game.