MLB Commish Doubtful Oakland Will Keep A’s

Major League Baseball’s commissioner doesn’t believe Oakland will keep its team.

“I think the mayor in Oakland has made a huge effort to try to get it done in Oakland,” MLB chief Rob Manfred said. “It just doesn’t look like it’s going to happen.”

• He added that the team “can’t continue to play in the facility they’re in,” and “given the lack of pace in Oakland, the lack of certainty, they have to be looking at Las Vegas.”
• Manfred said that should the A’s move, it would happen within a few years, adding “we can’t go five more years in the Coliseum.”
• The A’s lease at RingCentral Coliseum runs through 2024.

Manfred confirmed that the league would waive its relocation fee if the team moved, noting that a new stadium in Vegas would likely require a roughly $500 million retractable roof. 

Outgoing Oakland mayor Libby Schaaf said she spoke with Manfred on Saturday and remains “absolutely confident our deal in Oakland will get done next year even with new leadership in place.”

Hope for Tampa

Manfred was more optimistic about the Tampa Bay Rays staying put, calling Tampa “a viable major league market.”

“I’ve got a lot of faith in [Rays’ owner] Stu Sternberg. I think they will find a place to get a ballpark built. I think baseball can thrive in Tampa.”

Manfred has said that MLB will look to add two teams once the Rays’ and A’s ballpark situations are resolved.