The Oakland Athletics are moving to Sutter Health Park in Sacramento for the 2025-2027 baseball season. The temporary home for the Athletics is home to the San Francisco Giants triple-A baseball team, the Sacramento River Cats. The ballpark only seats 14,000 guests, making it the new smallest stadium in the MLB. This move comes after the Athletics front office and the Oakland Coliseum were unsuccessful in negotiating a new lease that would leave the team in California for the remainder of their tenure before relocating to Las Vegas. The move has caused an uproar in the Bay Area that the ball club is shipping out of the Oakland Coliseum.
Sell the team
The announcement has left the A’s owner John Fisher under hot water. In a Wednesday press conference, Fisher stated, “Even with the long-standing relationship and good intentions on all sides in the negotiations with Oakland, the conditions to achieve an agreement seemed out of reach. We understand the disappointment this news brings to our fans, as this season marks our final one in Oakland.”
Fans are outraged that Fisher would prematurely take the A’s away from Oakland before relocating to Las Vegas in 2028. In the last decade, Oakland sports fans have seen three of their beloved teams leave the city. The Athletics were the last team standing in Oakland before Fisher unmercifully took the team away.
The city of Oakland also has blood on its hands. How can a city sign off on losing three major sports teams in a decade? The Bay deserves better.
Displeased fans have taken to X to express their frustrations. Many A’s fans feel blinded sided and betrayed by John Fisher.
Once upon a time…. it was beautiful. #RootedInOakland pic.twitter.com/tj8YJdm1zW
— Amazin’ A’s Craze (@AmazinAsCraze) April 4, 2024
Oakland residents are heartbroken by the loss of their beloved team. Oakland resident Alison Dhont has been attending A’s game her entire life. In an interview with RateMyCollegeCoaches.com, she expressed her disappointment.
“It’s sad that a beloved franchise can be easily destroyed by another billionaire who only manages sports teams as a performative stunt.”
How are the Athletics getting away with this? Money!
How is the MLB commissioner signing off on this? The ballpark in Sacramento will hold 49,000 fewer fans than the Oakland Coliseum. Not only have the A’s gotten away with moving the team to a new location, but the team has gotten away with putting together half-assed rosters and calling it a team. The A’s are notorious for being cheap to cut costs to optimize profits for the front office, presenting horrible teams for the fans. In addition, the MLB is okay with breaking the hearts of the Oakland fanbase prematurely.
Just like Deep Throat whispered to reporter Bob Woodward in the Watergate scandal, follow the money. The MLB doesn’t care about the residents of Oakland. The MLB cares that there will be a new baseball team in a hot sports market like Las Vegas. The city has been a hot destination for years because of the newly located Las Vegas Raiders.
