Now I'm not sure if this is 100 percent accurate but Bob Nightengale of USA Today is reporting that the A's will be granted permission to move to San Jose. It won't happen until February if Nightengale is right but it's mixed news for A's fans.
I linked to it on Facebook and basically said, "Sucks for Oakland fans but it's been a long time coming and it's absolutely necessary." Believe me I know how much this sucks for the people who live in and around the Oakland area. But Oakland has so many other things going on right now that you simply can't blame the city for essentially giving up on the A's. I do believe that this will make the franchise much healthier over the long run as sports have turned into corporate products these days, with tons of revenue coming from luxury boxes and by moving to San Jose, the A's will suddenly have access to some of the most profitable tech companies in the world. Having a new stadium will also allow the A's to spend a lot more than they do right now and actually give them a shot to not only keep home grown stars but go after new free agents in the market. AND the free agents might actually want to come here as opposed to going anywhere BUT here. A new stadium with sparkling new facilities should also bring in a whole new casual fan.
I also have to think that Billy Beane knew that this verdict was on its way. I mean just look at the quotes from last night's Gio Gonzalez trade conference. He was talking about building the team like the next Cleveland Indians team so that when the team goes into the new stadium it's firing on all cylinders. That's what this offseason is all about and I don't believe it's just coincidence that Beane has fully committed to the rebuild the A's have needed for several seasons THIS season out of all seasons. Billy is really much more methodical than that.
Any way, I won't believe this is fully real until we get much closer...we all remember a little place called Fremont, right? But it's a small step towards a greater future for this franchise even if it crushes the past on the way to getting there.
