Ken Rosenthal on the A's relocation, Trade Deadline, and Re-imagining the All-Star Game 

John Fisher requested that the Mayor of Oakland not speak directly with Rob Manfred during negotiations. Why is that? Clearly, John Fisher did not want the rest of the MLB owners to know he was negotiating with Oakland in bad faith. Rob Manfred said there was no offer in Oakland because that's what John Fisher said. Now the mayor has clarified that there IS an offer in Oakland. This is possibly the greatest "F*ck you" to John Fisher ever, and he deserves every bit of it.

Vegas will not get behind the A’s. This would be another tourist team disconnected from its actual fan base. Leave ‘em in Oakland where they will actually be appreciated.

There needs to be a major investigation into what is happening here. Is Manfred lying and pushing for the move to Vegas? Does he have something to gain from that? We know Fisher is a terrible owner who will never invest in this team. Why does the league allow this to continue?

We want the A's to stay in Oakland!!

Prick manfred has refuses to grant interviews with two of the A’s biggest supporters inOakland. Brodie Brazil (does the A’s pre and post game shows on the A’s tv network) and Casey Pratt ( works for the Bay Area ABC affiliate KGO). What’s he afraid of???????? The all star game….get rid of the hideous uniforms and go back to the players wearing their own team jerseys

Ken is top shelf! Great info and insight on the Oakland situation

John Fisher just trying to move the team like the movie Major League, he needs to sell the team and piss off

The A's need to stay in Oakland, Las Vegas is too small a market for 81 home games.

The Howard Terminal stadium project has blueprints, permits, and is ready to go if Manfred would force a sale to new owner. Oakland has more financing than vegas as well.

Thank you guys for bringing this up, Its obvious the MLB and Fisher were both working to get out of Oakland for all this time

I live in Vegas. I saw the proposed stsdium rendering. No roof. Its not a closed stadium like Allegiant (Raiders stadium). Its 110 degrees here now. I hope this was just a "rendering" and they would not build like this. Have some research and understand how hot it gets here. Also, i really wish we get an expansion team (like VGK), not transplant like A's. We are so spoiled because of VGKs success (we won Stanley cup this year) so nobody is gonna jump on the band wagon for weak teams. (Not many people here care much about Raiders)

Mayor Thao did the right thing by showing up with the goods.

New owner or MOVE the team. Oakland is DONE with Fisher.

NOW This isn't going to be popular and before I get labeled as a racist. Consider this some old fashioned Archie Bunker commentary from the All in the Family show:. What REALLY happened: 1. You have a rich Republican White Jew who didn't give a damn about a baseball team but saw the opportunity of making a LOT of money on a real estate deal. Unfortunately, that meant he had to screw around with a baseball team that he really didn't want to spend any money on. 2. Oakland city council along with the residents. Blacks (to be politically correct African-Americans) who saw a chance to stick it to the man. We want affordable housing, community benefits package and billions and billions of dollars before anything gets started. 3. Thao an Asian mayor who probably didn't expect to get elected wanting to convert Oakland to an all Asian city and is only interested in getting HT and the rest of Oakland to be an all Asian town. OK. Everyone can flame me for being brutally honest. BUT Most facts are brutal. Was a deal ever possible at HT ?? No one knows. Is one possible NOW? With Fisher as A's owner, NO. With a NEW owner, then maybe a long shot MAYBE.

Ohtani is the 🦄 and 🐐! If he’s stay healthy, he is the BEST EVER. In terms of jersey sales, he was #1 Last year and has the highest Q Score of any MLB players - [ recognized industry standard for measuring consumer appeal of performers, brand ambassadors, influencers, characters, licensed properties and ..]

'It's About Bringing People Together': Oakland Mayor-Elect Sheng Thao on Her Vision for The Town By Marisa LagosScott ShaferSpencer Whitney Dec 14, 2022 I know you and most of the council are committed to keeping the A's in Oakland, that you want this waterfront ballpark. And you've said you don't want to use public money. Is that a red line? Like, would you consider any general fund money? And what are the financing options if taxpayers don't step up? Well, right now we have so many grant dollars that have already been secured at the Senate level, Assembly level. And so I am a huge proponent of moving forward with keeping the A's rooted here in Oakland. But again, it is a hard line in regards to taxpayers' dollars. I will not be OK with using taxpayers' dollars for building out of the stadium. There's going to be grant funding that are already coming in and secured. Hopefully, there will be more secure grant funding in the future. And then not just that, but really, you know, I am hopeful that the A's will come to the table and keep an open mind.

This is BS. MLB’s entire antitrust exemption is based on the theory that the A’s would stay in Oakland in this situation.

So happy that the A's are leaving. The smell was getting really bad.

One thing is clear. Major League Baseball is a cesspool of greedy owners who have no care for the communities their teams play in. I can’t believe that Fisher and Kaval are okay with ripping the hearts out of 10’s of thousands of A’s fans instead of just selling the team. I for one will spend the rest of my days hating those two creeps. They will soon be hated in Las Vegas too with the way they run the team.

maybe every city should boycott Fisher - who needs a MLB owner who deals in bad faith. Better LV get an expansion team with totally new ownership group. There is no goodwill between Fisher and City of Oakland & fans - A's need a new owner to succeed in Oakland.

Las Vegas was a way Oakland gave the A’s more money and rob has 380 million for a new team in Vegas all in one move

this A's story is fucking insane that it's OK to act like this

#SellTheTeam #FisherOut #StAyInOAklAnd

Ken, you're incorrect about the A's trying to building Oakland for 10 years. When Lew Wolf was part owner he tried to move the team to multiple locations other than Oakland such as Freemont, San Jose etc. When ownership flirted with moving to San Jose they would need the San Francisco Giants to relinquish their territory rights to that area, which was denied. After John Fisher and Dave Kaval struck out on several locations they finally turned to Oakland only a few years ago.

Moneyball 2: Pennyball

We want an expansion team.. look the support that Las Vegas has for the Golden Knights vs the Raiders

People don't realize sports betting is the Future of MLB

I don’t think A’s are moving! A month ago I did but since the mayor met with Manfred to show how close Oakland is I don’t see a move happening. Makes no sense to move to Vegas when they can expand there

This is good and we appreciate Ken's article and work. I have to take issue with Ken's point (at 8:16) that MLB has legitimate "reason to be skeptical about Oakland because of all the failures before". The fact is that when this ownership group took over in 2005, the first thing they did was try to build in Fremont for the next 3-4 years. Next, until 2015 they were trying to move to San Jose. 2017 they announce they will build a stadium on a site in Downtown Oakland owned by the Peralta college school district, which they didn't bother checking if they could acquire the land (it wasn't for sale). Finally, in 2018 they announced they wanted to build at Howard Terminal. So the history of trying to actually build in Oakland (on a site that was available to build on) only is the last 5 years!

A's are gonna move and the regret will come with that move.

baseball trying to tap into that gambling market..they see revenue as being a liaison to the sports books while gambling on sight.

I was a server at the Omni hotel at the Braves battery complex. The A’s visited the complex and they were dead set on a development complex just like in Atlanta. The other team that has visited and toured are the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Why a team that only draws 10K a game and has decades of attendance problems allow to keep their team? Rosenthanl is a liar. Oakland is not a big league market. The Giants are the primary draw with Oakland taking the scraps of the east bay. If you support a team in Oakland, you hate baseball period. So stop reporting on it.

Great stuff-all around ! I'm feeling now that Fisher is being a spoiled kid again.

I'm confused! There are several cities that have been wanting an MLB franchise for many years. Cities that are larger and have less to distract fans/tourists from going to MLB games. Why is it always Las Vegas that is the first city that seems to be in the front of the line to get pro sports franchises? How about keeping the A's on the west coast and moving them to Portland, OR? A very short move! They have a location picked out that's right in downtown Portland, where the old Lloyd Center Mall used to be. It's a short walk from there to the Moda Center where the Portland Trailblazers play. The Blazers have always drawn great attendance, even when the team isn't winning! The MLS Timbers and Thorns soccer club both sell out every game and both franchises are well known for having some of the most faithful and loyal fans. Some call the fans from each franchise the best in all of sports! Portland has neither an MLB or NFL franchise. I find it ridiculous that Las Vegas is instantly the first city in line when a sports franchise wants to move or be formed. There are other cities that have been "IN LINE" waiting for an MLB franchise way, WAY longer than Las Vegas, yet Las Vegas somehow became first in line to get an MLB team! Wait your turn Vegas - Some other very worthy cities have been waiting literally DECADES! You already have plenty of "FUN" to distract fans and tourists besides baseball. If Portland got an MLB franchise it'd be the only game in town 90% of the full MLB season! PLUS, the weather is soooo much more tolerable in the Spring, Summer, and Fall than 110 degree Las Vegas! Portland rarely gets over 90 degrees, and most days it's in the 70's or low 80's. With climate change, MLB REALLY NEEDS TO CONSIDER THIS! The very dry desert areas, like Las Vegas, are going to be the very first cities that lose massive residents because of lack of water, costs to live there, and temperature. It's miserable in Nevada! On the other hand, many pro sports players live their off season in Portland, OR because the Spring, Summer, and Fall is so beautiful and comfortable. Much more conducive to Major League Baseball!

Vegas should be an expansion team. Vegas Aces.

Ken makes these other guys look like airhead amateurs

Ken is off on this

Give San Jose an expansion team and then we’ll call it good.. Vegas would $hit

I lived in east bay growing up. It’s a hot mess and people live check to check due to pricing

Why have I heard nobody talk about the attendance at the Oakland colosseum since they moved in? Average, total, and where they ranked in the majors compared to other teams.

MLB Dean Spanos 2.0 fisher. The As in Vegas will be the Chargers of the MLB an afterthought

Wokeland will lost all their teams, But they complain about Fisher, " Floyd Ballpark " the Mayor will love 🤣🤣🤣

Vegas is NOT a small market.. almost 3 million residents and over 40 million tourists a year. That stadium will be sold out every night. Oakland is a dump.. this is over

I like Ken Rosenthal, but he is way off base (pun intended) on this one. All the Mayor did was show Manfred a re- presentation of the offer sheet by the City. There was no signed agreement from the City or creation of a TIF district (required for financing) In other words, just the same old, same old and now the Mayor can go to the voters and say she did everything she could to keep the A’s. I have no use for Manfred, but I agree with him on this.

A's have been trying to get out of Oakland for ten years. They don't deserve the benefit of the doubt anymore.