MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred employed some new tactics on Thursday as the Oakland A’s get set for a likely departure to Las Vegas: misinformation.
He threw verbal jabs the way of Oakland multiple times in a way that seemed to purposefully ignore historical and current context, as well as a well-known project to build a ballpark in Howard Terminal.
Among the high(low)lights, Manfred said the following:
- Sarcastically responded to the A’s reverse boycott, in which a season-high, 27,759 fans showed up on Tuesday:
It was great. It’s great to see what is, this year, almost an average Major League Baseball crowd in the facility for one night. That’s a great thing.
- Said there was no plan to keep the A’s in Oakland, despite the Howard Terminal proposal:
I think the owners as a whole understand that there has been a multi-year, pushing-a-decade effort where for the vast majority of the time, the sole focus was Oakland. Look, believe me, and I hear from ‘em, I feel sorry for the fans in Oakland. I do not like this outcome, I understand why they feel the way they do. I think that the real question is, what is it that Oakland was prepared to do? There is no Oakland offer, OK? They never got to a point where they had a plan to build a stadium at any site. And it’s not just John Fisher. You don’t build a stadium based on the club activity alone. The community has to provide support and you know, at some point, you come to the realization, it’s just not going to happen.
- Disparaged academic studies that suggest stadiums do not support local economies:
I love academics, they’re great. I think, take the areas where baseball stadiums have been built, OK? Look at what was around Truist Park before that was built. Look at the area around Nationals Park before it was built. I lived in that city. You know, academics can say whatever they want. I think the reality tells you something else.
Oakland Mayor Sheng Tao fired back on Manfred’s criticism, calling it patently false. He pointed to the Howard Terminal project and said that A’s ownership “insisted on a multibillion dollar, 55-acre project that included a ballpark, residential, commercial and retail space. In Las Vegas, for whatever reason, they seem satisfied with a 9-acre leased ballpark on leased land.”
This all comes after a series of votes in the Nevada State Legislature which make the A’s move to Oakland seem imminent. The legislature approved a $380 million public funding bill for a new stadium on the Las Vegas Strip. The bill is now a signature away from Governor Joe Lombardo — a strong supporter of the project, and will sign it — from becoming reality.
After that, it’s solely up to MLB to approve the A’s relocation. The only potential legislative hiccup at that point could be the so-called “Moneyball Act” introduced by Oakland Representative Barbara Lee (CA-12).
The Act was introduced on June 9 and would “require a professional baseball club to compensate its home community if such club relocates its home field more than 25 miles from its previous location.”
Compensation would be, “not less than the State, local and or Tribal tax revenue levied in the ten years prior to the date of relocation; and paid respectively to each State, local and or Tribal government which levied taxes on the club in ten years prior to the date of relocation.”
Assuming that legal hurdle fails, the last step is an MLB owner vote, which would need 75 percent approval. It could be approved, denied, or approved, including a standard relocation fee, expected to be about $300 million.
Manfred said from the start that he would not pursue the usual relocation fee, an indication of his preference to move the team to Las Vegas.
After all this, Manfred said that he hopes A’s fans would remain fans of the team after they move.