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Happy Monday, Athletics Nation!
At last week’s Winter Meetings, MLB Commisioner Rob Manfred hit the bully pulpit and scolded the City of Oakland for its laggardly approach to finding hundreds of millions of dollars to fund the necessary infrastructural improvements for a massive new development at Howard Terminal that will be suitable for a new Oakland A’s ballpark stadium.
Per Scott Ostler at the San Francisco Chronicle, Manfred went so far as to issue a deadline for the city to come to terms with the A’s. Get it done by January 2024, or else ... well, I don’t think Manfred was clear on Fisher’s contingency plans.
Presumably, the threat we face is that the A’s will pack up and move to Las Vegas. But there’s no solid evidence that conditions are promising to carry out such a move, nor that Sin City is prepared to roll out the red carpet to make it as cheap and easy as possible.
Ostler plausibly postulates that the resources the A’s continue to expend towards advancing the Howard Terminal project may well be evidence that Fisher knows staying in Oakland is still Plan A. Vegas could prove a bluff just as Manfred is all bluster if he thinks he can command the City of Oakland to pull $300 million out of a magician’s hat without playing any tricks on its taxpayers down the line.
Ostler rightly observed that Manfred “hit wrong notes” in characterizing the city as being solely at fault for the impasse over a new A’s ballpark. Hopefully Manfred will shut up now and allow both sides to work together towards a deal that is good for the city and team alike.
A’s Coverage:
- Nico: Is “Shooting For The Moon” Strategy Stellar Or Lune-y?
- Ostler: Rob Manfred’s new threats to Oakland over A’s ballpark hit wrong notes ($)
- Razo: Kotsay reveals Puk has chance to compete for A’s rotation spot
- Hampton: Raul Alcantara Signs With KBO’s Doosan Bears
- Kawahara: A’s sign Cuban pitcher Yunior Tur, hoping to strike gold ($)
MLB News & Interest:
- Rosenthal: What I’m hearing about how the MLB free-agent market is evolving ($)
- Polishuk: Cole Hamels Planning Comeback In 2023
- Polishulk: Mets To Sign Kodai Senga
- Hampton: Blue Jays In Agreement With Kevin Kiermaier
- Hampton: Dylan Cease Tops Pre-Arbitration Bonus Pool
- Today in Baseball History
Best of Twitter:
- Happy Birthday, Adrián Martínez!
Kicking & screaming to celebrate today!
— Oakland A's (@Athletics) December 10, 2022
Happy birthday Adrían pic.twitter.com/H7FNealWs6
It ain’t even close!
https://t.co/TUr3uFkiPl pic.twitter.com/O7kqNMJd7H
— Melissa Lockard (@melissalockard) December 12, 2022
No Mets-ing around here.
Since Jacob deGrom signed, Mets have guaranteed almost $360 million to Brandon Nimmo, Justin Verlander, Kodai Senga, Jose Quintana and David Robertson. CBT payroll is ~$345 million. With penalties, current payroll: $421 million. First on the Senga news tonight was @martinonyc.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 11, 2022
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