Elephant Rumblings: A Kaval-cade of comments on the A’s new stadium design

Happy Friday, Athletics Nation!

Apparently, it’s not just my Southern California hometown that is getting unusual amounts of rain. Yesterday, the A’s-Guardians game in Hohokam, Arizona was called off in the third inning due to the wet stuff. There is plenty of baseball to come, though, with split squad games in both Mesa and Las Vegas today and tomorrow.

The Vegas games are part of MLB’s Big-League Weekend, and Susan Slusser at the San Francisco Chronicle reported that A’s players and coaches are preparing not just for the games at the Aviator’s Las Vegas Ballpark, but also to field anticipated questions about the planned move to Sin City. The general consensus I gather: it’s out of their control so they will focus on winning games. Sounds reasonable.

The A’s latest ballpark renderings raised a lot of questions, and Dave Kaval appears to have a lot of answers. Maury Brown at Forbes detailed Kaval’s comments from an interview with Venues Now addressing missing bullpens, synergistic partnerships, where the rest of the money for the project could come from, and more. It’s an interesting read, though we all know by now that Kaval is not necessarily the most reliable source of truth out there.

Whatever happens in 2025 and beyond, another Opening Day at the Oakland Coliseum is fast approaching. Luis Medina was in contention to be part of the A’s rotation when the regular season begins on March 28, but that possibility has been ruled out in the wake of the Grade 2 MCL sprain Medina sustained on Monday according to Martin Gallegos at MLB.com. Hopefully the young righty will be back in action by mid-April.

Have a wonderful weekend, AN.

A’s Coverage:

• Athletics, Guardians canceled Thursday due to rain
• Additional Details Revealed About A’s Ballpark Design In Las Vegas
• A’s prepare for series in Las Vegas, and all the questions that come with it ($)
• Luis Medina Injury Update, Potential Timeline for Return
• Oakland A’s Owner John Fisher Drops Hint About Financials for Las Vegas Ballpark
• Here’s the Athletics’ Spring Breakout roster
• Veteran Wood experiences Cactus League oddity

MLB News & Interest:

• A.J. Puk Likely To Open Season In Marlins’ Rotation
• Blue Jays’ Erik Swanson shares update on 4-year-old son who was struck by car: ‘We’re very, very lucky’ ($)
• MLB Draft 2024: Keith Law’s top 30 prospects rankings to start the season ($)
• Can Jackson Holliday and the Orioles make Rookie of the Year history? ($)
• MLB Extension Week, Part 4: How much can the next generation of stars earn? ($)
• Offseason In Review: Atlanta Braves
• Offseason In Review: Arizona Diamondbacks
• Today in Baseball History

Best of X:

Hope Brownie is ok.

Daring to dream.

More AI-generated fun.

Yup.