Rosenthal asks why A's owner is getting a pass from MLB for tanking the industry | Foul Territory 

Why is the media so lenient on Manfred? He’s not going to do anything to an owner. He showed that in Houston.

What they fail to mention during the interview is the A’s “leaked” the Vegas deal during the week they were scheduled to meet with Oakland for a negotiations summit to hash out the details for the Howard Terminal site. Fisher/A’s ownership saw that actual progress in Oakland was being made and torpedoed the negotiations, after agreeing to not discuss the ongoing discussions In the media. Oakland halted the talks as to not be used as leverage in LV. Every time the A’s moved the goal post Oakland met it even raising $50mill over the asking $325mill. Now Oakland is not without fault this process should have been expedited once the Raiders left. The fact that MLB has let this drag on for as long as it has is ridiculous. Manfred should have stepped in a long time ago instead of setting up shell stadium committees that amounted to nothing. Nothing is set in stone yet, the giants had one foot in Tampa before ultimately staying in SF. On the A’s/LV side this whole process has been extremely rushed and poorly planned they are now on their 3rd land site. I guess we will see how this plays out.

Manfred doesn’t care about baseball. He cares about money.

The 2023 A's are an embarrassment of historical proportions. Lowest payroll, traded away all their good players, putting players on the field who obviously are not MLB caliber, making no effort to be competitive and are rewarded with a move and new stadium. Can't believe MLB allows this to happen. It is shameful. If I were Manfred and the other owners, I'd tell Fisher no move, no new stadium and no revenue sharing until you put a competitive team on the field. As for Fisher selling the team, ain't gonna happen. It's the goose that lays golden eggs.

Fisher should not be awarded anything for tanking his team deliberately, pocketing the revenue and turning his back on Oakland's true, LOYAL fan base. The MLB absolutely should not reward this clown with a waived relocation fee to give them incentive to leave their HOME! Manfred stands up for the owners but who steps in and stands up for the actual fans?

Can we talk about how Fisher sabotaged the Oakland negotiations. He asked for a $12B project for residential,commercial, gondola etc because he didnt think oakland would raise the funds and when they did he cancelled the negotiation. He went to Vegas and is pitcheing a stadium for $1.1b on 9 acres in the lot of a hotel after he claimed he needed a village….. sounds fishy eh🥸

100% it is a disgrace! A's fans deserve better!

As an A’s fan, Fisher has embarrassed this franchise and I wish that the team got sold to someone who actually cares

A's fans are some of the most loyal and hardcore in all of baseball, it sucks that they have the worst ownership.

I do love watching A’s home games and seeing all the signs in the outfield. This dude might be the worst owner in all of sports

As a resident of Las Vegas, I'll say this hoping SOMEONE will finally understand: Las Vegas COULD be a great MLB market. An expansion team with ownership that cares like Bill Foley does with the Golden Knight, at either the RIO or Wild Wild West sites. Las Vegas is a TERRIBLE MLB market for a pile of garbage like the Oakland A's are under John Fisher on a site locals actively avoid. Las Vegas locals DO NOT go to the strip unless they work there or have friends in town. There is absolutely ZERO chance the A's are going to get 21,000 locals a night, every night, four or five nights a week for six months.

What nobody talks about is the Giant's influence in wanting the bay area all to themselves.

Having ignored four consecutive ownerships tanking the Florida/Miami Marlins, the tanking of the Montreal Expos etc., etc., why would anyone think MLB would interfere in the Oakland case?

I agree with Rosenthal 1000%!! A’s ownership has shown that they don’t care about actually producing a quality product on the field.

A’s payroll is half of the 29th team. A shame. A’s had an all star roster just 3 years ago.

It will be a very sad day indeed if/when the A's leave northern California.

I'm all for an owner being able to control the team they OWN. But man, the A's have made it clear they don't actually intend to compete at all. At the end of the day he owns a baseball team that's part of a league, and if he doesn't intend to compete in that league in good faith he shouldn't retain ownership of the team. Moving the team to Vegas won't change anything, the problem is the ownership, not the city.

I feel bad for the loyal A's fans that have to go through this every year

Oakland is a great city for baseball. Especially when you consider how NFL teams left. Just build them a new damn stadium and give a shit about the team and fans will come. Look at their attendance when they try.

Was a life long A's fan since '72 and I stuck with them from the late 70's to mid 80's, the 2014 collapse, and all the lean years in between. We have eaten our share of crap seasons. This season was enough. Goodbye A's, good-bye MLB.

great video and im shocked more people dont look at this like Ken! Manfred allowing this to happen is so scummy and this whole situation is a travesty if the A's leave.

Rob Manfred is the worst commissioner in sports it started when the Miami Marlins got sold and he allowed the new owners to unload Carlos Stanton plus dumping Christian yelich I mean I feel like the new rules of growing me as far as baseball goes but he's threatening Milwaukee tell him they either have to upgrade or fix their stadium or they could be on the move I think baseball with benefit if he was out of a job and we had a new commissioner

Don’t look now, but the Reds have only won 5 more games than the A’s.

Las Vegas better being paying attention, if this goes sideways after the move the public will revolt. That being said the owner will sell the team within two years after the move. He is only moving to increase the team value.

I think Fisher saw that 2002 Moneyball team and decided to buy the A's in 2005 to run it that same way without any exceptions. The Movie in 2011 probably just reaffirmed that idea in his head. He got tunnel vision and didn't spend on the team until it ran the team and the stadium into the ground. It's a joke. A bad joke. So it's just been nearly 2 decades of downhill. They play in a stadium that was ruined by Al Davis. The Warriors went, the Raiders went, and Jeff Fisher said "Yeah this whole Moneyball thing didn't work, I want to move to a tourist market, make a team a tourist attraction and keep doing nothing to make the Athletics a better franchise...

I grew up in Baltimore, and enjoyed reading Ken Rosenthal's sports column in the evening Baltimore Sun every night. He's a great writer, and a true professional sports journalist. Over the years, whenever Ken had to fill in on Orioles radio shows, he was easily the friendliest host for the fans like me. I always enjoy his reporting.

Thanks Ken. Been wondering why MLB allows this or if other owners have any options against them. Definitively embarrassing for the league.

The athletics need to stay put.....good ownership would change that....though they need to get away from the homeless encampment that is near the stadium.

THANK YOU THABK YOU for not letting this die. Keep asking why this corruption is being allowed. Not only myself but all A's fans your exposure is all we still have. THANK YOU!

Hearing squeaky clean Scott say “big ass deals” made me feel like when an actor from my childhood does a normal adult thing and my brain goes “No you’re not allowed to do that”

Fisher doesn't care about the A's or their loyal fan base. Fisher only wants to move the A's to Vegas to drive up the value of the franchise then sell and dump it. Fisher only cares about cashing in not running the team.

Excellent questions, excellent video!!!!

Finally you guys have gone viral haha!

Why is Rob Manfred preventing the Rays from relocating to Montreal? Can you imagine the Blue Jays and the Expos both in the AL East Division!!

I totally agree. The As do not attempt to win anything. They develop and flip players. Not fair towards their fans, not good for baseball.

The other owners couldn’t be happier with Fisher, 3 guaranteed wins every series…

Try watching the guardians give away all their talent when it’s contact time

At the very end of the interview, Rosenthal talks about certain front offices being uncomfortable trading prospects to make a move & actually try to win. Chaim Bloom had an opportunity to make a statement this trading deadline and didn't. He didn't last year, & in '21, got lucky trading for an injured (an of course, undervalued) Kyle Schwarber. That one ended up working & the Red Sox made it within two games of the World Series. This season's team is solid all the way through, one of the ten best hitting teams in MLB, & while waiting for Chris Sale, Garrett Whitlock, Tanner Houck, & Trevor Story to get healthy, could have used one more pitcher. Many said to trade for a starter, but I believed Jordan Hicks would have been perfect. They could have lengthened and deepened their bullpen in a similar manner to the 2015 Royals, & extended Hicks to replace Kenley Jansen when his contract is up after '24. However, again no significant moves causes yet another downer in the clubhouse. I am certain Bloom's highest achievement in his own mind is finding the "Diamond in the Rough", not actually winning. He's done a solid job strengthening & developing the Red Sox Minor League system the way he had promised, but with so many players being Rule 5 eligible, and having too many players to keep this December, it just made sense to trade a few & to get a difference maker while sending a message to the clubhouse that Bloom & the Organization as a whole is committed to winning. Not every Front Office is aware of how their actions or inaction affects the clubhouse. There is an internal boost when the Front Office "goes for it". That's undeniable. When the FO doesn't, that a message of a different sort. The messages coming out of the A's Front Office is disheartening & embarrassing to baseball, to say the least.

The A’s traded Donaldson and could have signed him to 3 million a season. Said they couldn’t afford it. Turned around and signed Tuna Casserole to. 10 million a season for 3 years. He hit into 39 DP’s in season and a half and was released. Donaldson won the MVP.

This is very much like the Montreal Expos in 2004

It is sad what has happened to the A’s. Why is it that billionaires get help from the government it’s not socialism? But preventing Americans from going into bankruptcy over a broken arm by having healthcare is? Cities shouldn’t have to subsidize billionaires that own a team.

This happened similar with the dodgers frank mccort our owner of our team was selling the team and didn’t do good so that’s when magic Johnson stepped in and saves the dodgers

Kenny calling out Manfred, the A’s and the rest of the owners is refreshing instead of the same ol ass kissing

I appreciate Ken’s take on this

Bull, if you want to simply avoid tanking for competitive reasons, eliminate the draft. As long as there is an incentive to lose teams will game the system. You can compensate for the lack of a draft by limiting the number of signees per team, cap the money used to sign players or have a rookie pay slot. Also, the A’s have wanted out of Oakland, just like the Raiders. And the middle class and monied people, are fleeing the Bay Area. Also , local TV is different since the advent of streaming. Note, team payroll is irrelevant sometimes, after all, the Yankees have as many championships as the A’s the last 12 years or so. Also how many big free agents are lining up to play in Oakland? I love how these talking heads love to spent other people’s money and seem to know it all, what has Rosenthal ever ran except perhaps a typewriter or word processor? This is PROFESSIONAL baseball and money counts, some owners want to maximize profits, others want to grow the long-term value of the franchise, a few want to have a billion dollar toy. Winning is not necessarily an organizational goal, but talking about it is simply pablum for the fans.

MLB is big joke! The NBA, NFL and NHL have some sort of a salary cap and revenue sharing, but MLB has a luxury tax which rewards teams such as the A’s, Pirates and Marlins.

First of all Oakland HASN'T had ample amounts of time. The A's haven't even really tried to build IN Oakland until around 2016 with Laney. Typical A's fashion with no homework, that got killed fast. The city isn't the 1 who has the build the project, they can help sure, and that's what they did. The city told the A's you got good sites with either Howard Terminal or the Coliseum. A's went with BOTH until the city told them you have to pick 1. HT was chosen around 2018 and the process was going smoothly until the pandemic hit and delayed everything for a year and half. Then the A's pull the oh well we MIGHT have to move because MLB says so so "parallel paths" with Vegas now. Total BS, you don't do that shit when an effort is finally chosen to go with Oakland. You know what? The city STILL murdered everything pushing the project along while being shit on by the A's and MLB with thier constant Vegas BS. This project could have been signed and dotted 2 years ago, but like typical fashion the cheapass ownership doesn't want to pay for the ballpark. It's ready to go... straight up criminals these people are.

He's right. It's bad for baseball to have a team purposely go into the toilet like this. 31 win pace is historically pathetic.

A's are chasing the L record and I just want them to win something. ❤

Facts. The MLB is at its best when all the teams in the league are real teams. Oakland is not like any other sporting organization I have ever seen....they make the Arizona Coyotes look like a serious group.

Manfred is allowing this embarrassment to go-on with Fisher, praising him at every turn. Now, I know he has seen John's track record of destroying the A's franchise for 20 years. Heck, they made a movie about his cheapness in "Money Ball". Makes me wonder if Manfred is destroying baseball, the players and fans for the good old buck. Lets let John put out a poor product and then blame the fans.

Vegas will definitely support an MLB team. People will visit when their team plays there

this description is perfection

The team proceeded to go 9-9 during against solid competition. Series wins against Atlanta, Pittsburgh & Milwaukee and splitting a 4-game series with the Rays.

Thank you Guys for giving attention to this topic. I HAVE asked this question. I’ve also stated several times that this level of play gets a team kicked out of most leagues.

We saw the Sonics thefted from the 14th largest market...to the 48th in OK. Somethings make zero sense...beyond collusion.

A furniture store in Oakland should pull a reverse Mattress Mack, buy furniture and if the A's lose you get it for free

When a team gets money from profit sharing are they required to spend that money to upgrade the team?

Kansas City used to be a farm team of the Yanks decades ago. There are not 30 major cities who will support their teams as it is just too costly anymore.

Manfred hates baseball and moneyball was a cautionary tale. At the end of the day...in a 7 game series analytics mean shit. You need gamers and gamers get paid.

With the A's ownership having taken various preliminary steps toward a move to Las Vegas, and with lawmakers in Nevada getting ready to have a vote on whether or not to help finance the construction of a new ballpark, you would think that the A's would begin to at least proactively make some transactions and spend some money to help the team begin to seem somewhat appealing. But I don't think they're doing this. That honestly makes me believe John Fisher will continue having a tight budget in Vegas.

If the Bay Area is so great, why do they get revenue sharing? Seems to me like Oakland is to San Francisco as Newark, NJ is to New York City ...

This whole situation ultimately comes down to MLB coming to the sensible economic realization that it now needs to contract ... I'm glad that Ken Rosenthal here raises the "bottom line" question to whether or not Las Vegas can support MLB ... I don't think over the long haul that it can ... Who wants to travel to Las Vegas in the scorching summer months to watch their home team play the A's ??? ... The majority of Vegas citizens are also transplants from other destinations ... The A's will quickly realize as the Raiders already have that their local fan base is minimal at best ... I also believe that Charlotte, Nashville, Montreal, Portland, Salt Lake City, San Antonio etc. are not large enough "baseball hungry" markets to adequately support MLB in the foreseeable future ... The A's along with one other franchise need to be bought out with the players in their MLB and minor league systems being picked up in a draft ... Likely that other team would be the Tampa Rays due to their sub standard current stadium ... A team from the National League would then have to moved over to the American League ... What's so bad about the two leagues having 14 teams each comprising four seven team divisions ??? ... Better than a MLB "Triple A" talented pretender like the A's foolishly investing in a highly uncertain Las Vegas market with their ownership and MLB ultimately losing millions of dollars from having made a very poor business decision ...

elon where are you???

A business should build their own corporate HQ/facilities, and not ask locality to foot most of the bill. Apple, Clorox, etc. would not dare to ask the city government to pay for their HQ or manufacturing plant.

He is not tanking too lose for draft picks he is just not investing in the team when it is in Oakland. I can see why. The location is a dump and there is no reason to spend money. Might as well just take the revenue sharing and at least brake even. Oakland gets almost nothing for their TV deal and has very little in advertising revenue. Compare that to the Yankees who get almost 1 billion just on the TV deal alone. Which is why MLB needs to get TV money all divided up equally like the NFL.

About time someone called MLB out! Fisher is a president day Ebenezer Scrooge. Once he has to pay fair market value, he immediately trades the players. His greed is unmatched in professional sports. Now Oakland offered him a brand new ball park and he says FU and moves the team to Los Vegas. He has betrayed the A’s fans. MLB should void the move and force him to sell.

Remember back in the 70s when the commissioner would just quash trades based on competitive concerns? They've gone from one extreme to the other.

This is similar to the Arizona Coyotes situation. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman doesn't want them to relocate

Fast forward 10 months, and the Orioles went and got Corbin Burnes. As an A's fan, there's no reason to think that John Fisher will actually spend money on players in Las Vegas because, let's face, isn't that something he should've already been doing 🤔

First of all for the team on the field look who is the GM Billie Bean AKA Money Ball and for the other watch the movie Major League and see the similarities if I lose so many games it’s easier to move them

Gambling!!! That’s why mLB let’s it happen! MLB want a team there before the NBA gets there and willing to give up everything think it’s going to payoff. If he wanted to build he can build now on the site the A’s own now .. being the Coliseum.

New owner or MOVE the team. Vegas can have the A's with Fisher as owner.

And why didn't the MLB let them move to San Jose in the same market? It is the largest city in the Bay Area and have the money for a new stadium.

The reasons why is because there isn't any future in Oakland. The stadium is a dump and the city has already said that they won't put up money to fund a new one since the city itself doesn't have any money. We all know owners don't want to put up the money for a new stadium so if the city won't do it, only makes sense to move to a location that will put up a new stadium.

It's beyond me how much sentiment I still see blaming fans and Oakland communities for this debacle. Public opinion is so whipped for Billionaires these days, they can do no wrong anymore

This is bad for baseball I feel the their fans The A's are becoming one of my favorite teams one day they'll be good again

Baseball in Vegas is just plain stupid, it doesn't fit the city, it's too hot & dry, you have to play the entire summer indoors which is just nuts.

If you want the most likely answer to that question at 4:53 about payroll, look to mid-2020, when I, among other people, voiced their opinion to the A's about the owner's decision to not pay their minor league players that while weren't playing, I don't believe they were technically unemployed, in the midst of a global pandemic. The A's changed course. It's not like players in MiLB are even paid that much and it would have cost a hair over $1 million or an estimated 0.05% of his the owner's worth.

Fisher isnt going to spend on payroll in vegas, he will spend all his money on the stadium...

The fact that the Dodgers owner got busted in 2011 but John Fisher is going Scott free talk about a double standard

I disagree that new owners want anything to do with California especially now that big insurance company aren’t going to insure California property’s

This is why MLB needs a salary floor in addition to a salary cap. That way it’ll force owners like Fisher to spend money.

100 percent agree but thanks for Olsen and Murphy

The commissioner needs to step in. What the A's are doing is contrary to the spirit of competition. The things that have occurred in baseball over the last few years (aside from the A's situation) has driven me away from the game. Manfred - step up and fix it. Do your job.

if teams want to be like the Rays they need to start feeding and housing their minor leaguers, which is way cheaper than a major free agent contract and yet almost no teams do it. It's good for the players obviously if they do that, but it's good for baseball, too, because a lot more players will be able to stay in the minors long enough to develop before having to quit because of financial hardship.

John Fisher is one of Manfred’s bosses. Not the other way around. Idk why people seem to forget that.

The A's randomly deciding to move to Las Vegas is extremely shady and really needs to be explained why that market is the most suitable? There are several other locations that have been on the MLB expansion list for years now.

I’ve been saying it for weeks now, INVESTIGATE FISHER

Selig should've approved Joe Lacob from buying them but he wanted his friends to own them. 😭

McCourt and this situation are very different. Not sure why it is even compared.

The A's need to move, because they've tried for YEARS to get a new stadium in various places around the Bay and haven't been able to get it done. That said, LV is not the place! Why should they follow the Raiders there? Why not move to Portland instead? Why not return to KC? (I'd love to see the Royals move to Montreal!) Or Newark, which would be close to their original city of Philly? Yes, Manfred may have a feel for business, but he certainly doesn't have one for baseball.

They made the playoffs three out of the last 5 years. As an Angels fan who has not made the playoffs in seven years, I am jealous.

Why didn't Rosenthal ask this question 15 or more years ago about the A's? I want that question answered, although it is some what rhetorical.

Lifelong A's fan here since I was a kid in the late 80's. The organization is an embarrassment and it's become bigger than just the A's. The A's are making the entire league look bad. I don't know how the owners and commissioner are allowing this to happen. I don't think there's going to much of a market for the A's in Las Vegas. The A's ownership has been crying victim for 20+ years. Moneyball is a huge failure. They've traded away stars with several years left under team control repeatedly. The A's ownership and Billy Beane have to go.

The Reds, A’s, Cubs, Pirates, Nationals, Orioles have spent YEARS at various times actively trying to tank and lose. How do you allow this as a sport? As a union, how do you allow this? You can go and find 9 free agent MLB players right now on the street, and beat the A’s.

Would never happen in the US but, THIS is why the European promotion/relegation process is fantastic and works!

and yet they are coming down hard on the Brewers for not fixing their stadium...I guess we only push the small market teams.

Tank the team II is around the corner. ALL players that are scheduled to be free agents on the A's roster will be traded away by the deadline making a poor team or even worse.

My theory is the owners of the SF Giants want this market for themselves. That’s why manfred gives Fisher a pass because if Lacobs ownership group comes in they’ll put the Giants to shame with their new ballpark and commitment to win.