So much BS out of this guy.
Every time he moves his lips, he LIES.
I'd love to wipe that smug little smile right off of Kaval's face!

I'd love to see the A's get competent ownership and move to a new stadium at the old Concord NWS site directly adjacent to the North Concord BART station. As of now it's still "City-owned" land that's currently unused, unless you count abandoned railroad spurs as use, that they are actively targeting for private development. It has direct access to public transportation. There is enough land that the stadium, parking structures, and any retail/hospitality could be set back from the existing homes. Plenty of freeway frontage to add at least one more on/off ramp. The A's would immediately enjoy the competitive advantage for fan interest of warm summer nights for games. If they wanted to they could follow the Niners precedent and still call themselves Oakland A's. Lots of positives IMO. Certainly better use than whatever crappy tracts Seeno will build when he gets final approval.

For political reasons, that is never going to happen.

WalterSobchak said:

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I'd love to see the A's get competent ownership and move to a new stadium at the old Concord NWS site directly adjacent to the North Concord BART station. As of now it's still "City-owned" land that's currently unused, unless you count abandoned railroad spurs as use, that they are actively targeting for private development. It has direct access to public transportation. There is enough land that the stadium, parking structures, and any retail/hospitality could be set back from the existing homes. Plenty of freeway frontage to add at least one more on/off ramp. The A's would immediately enjoy the competitive advantage for fan interest of warm summer nights for games. If they wanted to they could follow the Niners precedent and still call themselves Oakland A's. Lots of positives IMO. Certainly better use than whatever crappy tracts Seeno will build if he gets final approval.

---

I love this post.
I have actually thought this same thing for 10 years.

In the end:
-are there enough people in that corner of the Diablo Valley plus out Hwy 4?
-will Benicia and beyond come across the bridge?
-will west of the Berkeley hills venture all the way to North Concord?
-is there enough money among the North Diablo Valley neighborhoods to support a MLB team?
-where are the corporate buyers of $$$$ suites?
-242 to Hwy4 traffic sucks!

I think you are spot on that Concord should absolutely do something other than a bunch of residential. I saw their prior plan which nearly went thru. "Villages". I didn't love it. For one, all those residents are simply going to clog Treat and/or Ygnacio beyond what it already is to get to Hwy 24 toward Oakland/SF.

I've thought that a bigtime UC or CSU campus would be good. With college prices going thru the roof, it is just a sign that demand outstrips supply. Concord could immediately put in the classrooms and the dorms, then build out the stadium stuff down the road. I would also put in some high rise office buildings and campus parks to attract dollars, not low rent residents. Those can come in down the road with in-fill.
I would also build a freeway from North Concord all the way back toward Concord to try and get the surface roads of Treat and Ygnacio to loosen up.

There's a lot of crappy parts of Concord north of the old downtown. A lot of that are small homes that are at risk of falling into ghetto in 30 years. That should be transformed thru the power of proximity to jobs and student housing.

Yes, I know. I have edited my post accordingly. Still wish it would happen, it would be great to be able to go to warm weather baseball games.

concordtom said:

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-are there enough people in that corner of the Diablo Valley plus out Hwy 4?
-will Benicia and beyond come across the bridge?
-will west of the Berkeley hills venture all the way to North Concord?
-is there enough money among the North Diablo Valley neighborhoods to support a MLB team?
-where are the corporate buyers of $$$$ suites?
-242 to Hwy4 traffic sucks!

---

Good points. I don't have the definitive answers, but my gut tells me win and the fans will come. I don't think all of the people going to Giants games live or work in downtown SF. And I know for a fact the reason people aren't going to A's games isn't the location or stadium, as bad as those both are.

WalterSobchak said:

---

concordtom said:

---

-are there enough people in that corner of the Diablo Valley plus out Hwy 4?
-will Benicia and beyond come across the bridge?
-will west of the Berkeley hills venture all the way to North Concord?
-is there enough money among the North Diablo Valley neighborhoods to support a MLB team?
-where are the corporate buyers of $$$$ suites?
-242 to Hwy4 traffic sucks!

---

Good points. I don't have the definitive answers, but my gut tells me win and the fans will come. I don't think all of the people going to Giants games live or work in downtown SF. And I know for a fact the reason people aren't going to A's games isn't the location or stadium, as bad as those both are.

---

Families, which surround North Concord in a big way, watch their kids play soccer at Boatwright.
They don't go sit in the bleachers.

The times I went to the big coke bottle in the city it was all work related.

There are NO businesses worth diddle around candlestick, Oakland coliseum or in the north concord area.

There are lots of them around Levi's, OraclePark, and Chase.

You also need the spillover bars and restaurants in the nearby streets. Put a University in first.

Whoops

The lost opportunity was the South Bay because of Giant's territorial rights. Would have put them in a growing "urban" area with good weather, plus all the tech overlords would have bought boxes. Would also have been good for San Jose

I like going to A's day games in Oakland as it is like going back in time to the Ghost of Baseball Innocence.

Anarchistbear said:

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The lost opportunity was the South Bay because of Giant's territorial rights. Would have put them in a growing "urban" area with good weather, plus all the tech overlords would have bought boxes. Would also have been good for San Jose

I like going to A's day games in Oakland as it is like going back in time to the Ghost of Baseball Innocence.

---

Agreed.
Perhaps MLB shoots self in foot with this specific territorial rights rule.

I wonder what problem existed with "territory" with NYC and the 2 baseball teams there, many miles closer to one another than SF to SJ. (Take your pick: Yankees/Giants or Yankees/Mets)

concordtom said:

---

Anarchistbear said:

---

The lost opportunity was the South Bay because of Giant's territorial rights. Would have put them in a growing "urban" area with good weather, plus all the tech overlords would have bought boxes. Would also have been good for San Jose

I like going to A's day games in Oakland as it is like going back in time to the Ghost of Baseball Innocence.

---

Agreed.
Perhaps MLB shoots self in foot with this specific territorial rights rule.

I wonder what problem existed with "territory" with NYC and the 2 baseball teams there, many miles closer to one another than SF to SJ. (Take your pick: Yankees/Giants or Yankees/Mets)

---

The MLB shared markets (NY, LA, CHI, SF) were created before the current territorial rules existed. No way they could happen now.

I agree that their territorial rules are too draconian and should be reformed. It's to the point where people living hundreds of miles from any MLB stadium are considered in the "territory" of multiple MLB clubs and therefore are blacked out of multiple games on MLB's national TV service. Insane.

The problem is as it is with many things: the people in position to fix the problem have personal incentives to not do it. Why should the Red Sox give up their dominion of the very lucrative New England extended region?

concordtom said:

---

Anarchistbear said:

---

The lost opportunity was the South Bay because of Giant's territorial rights. Would have put them in a growing "urban" area with good weather, plus all the tech overlords would have bought boxes. Would also have been good for San Jose

I like going to A's day games in Oakland as it is like going back in time to the Ghost of Baseball Innocence.

---

Agreed.
Perhaps MLB shoots self in foot with this specific territorial rights rule.

I wonder what problem existed with "territory" with NYC and the 2 baseball teams there, many miles closer to one another than SF to SJ. (Take your pick: Yankees/Giants or Yankees/Mets)

---

I think the Dodgers were obviously a territory but when they and the Giants left it became the Yankees and. Not Yankees ( Mets) depending on fan orientation not geography.. I don't think the A's would get the same dominance as the Giants even if they built a new park. The Giants park is a tourist destination in a way an A's park would never be

Anarchistbear said:

---

concordtom said:

---

Anarchistbear said:

---

The lost opportunity was the South Bay because of Giant's territorial rights. Would have put them in a growing "urban" area with good weather, plus all the tech overlords would have bought boxes. Would also have been good for San Jose

I like going to A's day games in Oakland as it is like going back in time to the Ghost of Baseball Innocence.

---

Agreed.
Perhaps MLB shoots self in foot with this specific territorial rights rule.

I wonder what problem existed with "territory" with NYC and the 2 baseball teams there, many miles closer to one another than SF to SJ. (Take your pick: Yankees/Giants or Yankees/Mets)

---

I think the Dodgers were obviously a territory but when they and the Giants left it became the Yankees and. Not Yankees ( Mets) depending on fan orientation not geography.. I don't think the A's would get the same dominance as the Giants even if they built a new park. The Giants park is a tourist destination in a way an A's park would never be

---

Doh! I knew I was forgetting something re NYC (Dodgers!).

I think if Oakland rid it's downtown of crime and built the right ballpark, it could definitely become a great place to catch a game after work! I mean, with the freeways AND Bart going north-south-east, it's a great mid-point. Unfortunately, they don't have the land - it would require a lot of tear down acreage.

I looked at the proposal and didn't get too excited. Maybe if the sky-ride to BART, but that seemed like a gimmick that wouldn't transport enough people nor ever get built.



A mere 6000 people per hour?
Over the freeway?
Yeah, right.

Data: Spotrac; Table: Axios Visuals


"Wild stat: Max Scherzer's contract with the Mets will pay him a record $43.3 million annually. That's more than the Orioles, Guardians, Pirates and A's are currently set to spend on their entire rosters.

What they're saying: "Embarrassed for your fan base ... be better," tweeted Giants OF Joc Pederson alongside a screenshot of MLB's lowest payrolls. "If you can't, sell [your] team to somebody that wants to ... compete." Axios

I wonder how much taxpayer money will be spent in order to support $41M of salary.
I mean, if their revenue pull is so small, it simply doesn't merit spending $1B on all this new stuff.

Maybe people simply don't want to spend their time going to A's games.

Maybe if all the A's revenue comes from TV, they should just build a cheap green screen stadium (pick a centralize hub location, the way FedEx chose Memphis) and digitize in a bunch of fans.

That would lower so much stadium game-day overhead!
More profitable.

Vegas is a giant concord with casinos and NO FRICKING WATER. The raiders stadium is nice in and of its self but the location and parking not so hot. Unless your walking from the southern strip across the 15

concordtom said:

---

Maybe if all the A's revenue comes from TV, they should just build a cheap green screen stadium (pick a centralize hub location, the way FedEx chose Memphis) and digitize in a bunch of fans.

That would lower so much stadium game-day overhead!
More profitable.

---

For Spartacus, Stanley Kubrick just hired 100,000 Italians as extras:



For Gladiator, you just tell your computer guy to add another 100,000 to the scene:

The A's could build this cheap stadium, sell out every game, and digitally place the rest of the fans.
Staff for hot dog vendors and aisle sweepers could be optimized.
No billion dollar up front.
Just live off the rest of the MLB TV revenue.


In 1990, at a cost of approximately $2.4 million, the City of Dunedin built a new stadium called Dunedin Stadium at the same location as Grant Field



TD Ballpark, originally Dunedin Stadium at Grant Field, is a baseball field located in Dunedin, Florida. The stadium was built in 1990 and holds 8,500 people. It is the spring training home of the Toronto Blue Jays, as well as home to the Dunedin Blue Jays of the Florida State League and the Dunedin High School Falcons baseball team. The stadium has also been known as Knology Park (20042008) and Florida Auto Exchange Stadium (20102017).

During the first two months of the 2021 MLB season, the Toronto Blue Jays played their home games at the stadium.

bearister said:

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"Embarrassed for your fan base ... be better," tweeted Giants OF Joc Pederson alongside a screenshot of MLB's lowest payrolls. "If you can't, sell [your] team to somebody that wants to ... compete." Axios

---

Joc should be embarrassed for his big spending teams new and old, both of which have losing records against the A's (including over the past 10+ years). Talk about "be better" LOL.

WalterSobchak said:

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bearister said:

---

"Embarrassed for your fan base ... be better," tweeted Giants OF Joc Pederson alongside a screenshot of MLB's lowest payrolls. "If you can't, sell [your] team to somebody that wants to ... compete." Axios

---

Joc should be embarrassed for his big spending teams new and old, both of which have losing records against the A's (including over the past 10+ years). Talk about "be better" LOL.

---

" The real Yankees dynasty began in 1927 and ended in 1953, a period of 27 years in which the Yankees won 16 pennants and 15 World Championships."

Give Billy Beane a Top 5 payroll and let him take a crack at that. Billy basically assembles All Star Teams and then Fisher gives them a bus ticket out of town.

Where in Oakland ?

Is that size stadium going to bring in the revenue the own expects ? While Losing 100+ games over the next two seasons

going4roses said:

---

Where in Oakland ?

Is that size stadium going to bring in the revenue the own expects ? While Losing 100+ games over the next two seasons

---

Dave Kaval's Catch-22 statement:

"We can't keep talent unless you build us a state of the art stadium."

bearister said:

---

Give Billy Beane a Top 5 payroll and let him take a crack at that. Billy basically assembles All Star Teams and then Fisher gives them a bus ticket out of town.

---

That would be fun to see. The crazy thing is though that more often than not the A's get the best years from their guys. Even the ones who go on to still be good elsewhere typically aren't as good as they were with the A's. There are some exceptions, but they're pretty rare.

going4roses said:

---

Where in Oakland ?

Is that size stadium going to bring in the revenue the own expects ? While Losing 100+ games over the next two seasons

---

You didn't read my prior posts.
What are the sources of revenue for the A's:
* tickets
* tv
* what else?

I was saying that the A's could simply live off the TV money - the way Donald Sterling (Clippers) lived in the NBA off that league's revenue sharing agreement.

WalterSobchak said:

---

bearister said:

---

Give Billy Beane a Top 5 payroll and let him take a crack at that. Billy basically assembles All Star Teams and then Fisher gives them a bus ticket out of town.

---

That would be fun to see. The crazy thing is though that more often than not the A's get the best years from their guys. Even the ones who go on to still be good elsewhere typically aren't as good as they were with the A's. There are some exceptions, but they're pretty rare.

---

Mark Mulder, Best Unload, All Time

bearister said:

---

going4roses said:

---

Where in Oakland ?

Is that size stadium going to bring in the revenue the own expects ? While Losing 100+ games over the next two seasons

---

Dave Kaval's Catch-22 statement:

"We can't keep talent unless you build us a state of the art stadium."

---

What is the proposal on the table?
Who is funding this new stadium?
I don't think ANY (privately owned for profit) sports team should be subsidized by public cofers.

Mulder and Zito have to be right at the top, but you're right the edge goes to Mulder. My first thought was Cespedes, but he had a couple better years after leaving than he had in Oakland before falling off.

bearister said:

---

going4roses said:

---

Where in Oakland ?

Is that size stadium going to bring in the revenue the own expects ? While Losing 100+ games over the next two seasons

---

Dave Kaval's Catch-22 statement:

"We can't keep talent unless you build us a state of the art stadium."

---

Lol hmm k

The Oakland A's stadium issue is now on course to a solution
And it has to do with revenue sharing.

Mar 15, 2022

https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2022/3/15/22978208/oakland-stadium-issue-now-on-course-to-solution

The 2016 MLB/MLBPA collective-bargaining agreement had a sort of poison pill for the Oakland Athletics:

Quote:

---

As part of the labor agreement, the details of which were officially revealed on Friday, the A's will be phased out of the league's revenue-sharing plan over the next four years. Their share of these annual dollars, worth more than $30 million last year, will be cut to 75 percent in 2017, 50 percent in '18 and 25 percent in '19, before it's gone completely in '20.
The A's, despite playing in a large market, have been included in the program only because of their aging stadium, and MLB's decision to incrementally eliminate them from receiving these funds stresses the urgency for a new ballpark and, perhaps, forces the team's hand.

---

Five years' worth of losing revenue sharing funds hurt the A's for a year or so, but they won 97 games in both 2018 and 2019, losing the wild card game each time. After a division title in the pandemic-abbreviated 2020 season, they missed out on the 2021 postseason with an 86-76 mark.
The A's payroll stayed relatively consistent in the 2017-21 period, dropping to $87 million in 2018 but rising to $111 million in 2019 before dropping off significantly to $74 million in 2021. A's management managed to keep the team in contention much of the time anyway.
This matters because A's revenue sharing was restored in the new CBA:

Quote:

---

The new labor agreement reinstates the A's as a revenue-sharing recipient, phasing them back into the plan. But the slight improvement in their economic circumstances in 2022 is not expected to alter the team's position as sellers perhaps massive sellers in the coming weeks.
The A's were phased out of revenue sharing in the last labor agreement, receiving no money in 2020 (when the program was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic) and 2021. Starting this season, they will be phased back in at 25 percent per year over a four-year period. But there is a catch.
According to the agreement, the A's need to enter into a binding deal for a new ballpark in Oakland or another city by Jan. 15, 2024, or they again will be eliminated as a revenue-sharing recipient. If they get a commitment for a new park, they will remain a recipient until they move into that facility.

---

"Massive sellers" could have begun Monday, when the A's shipped first baseman Matt Olson to Atlanta for four prospects.
But the A's will have some extra money to spend this year and next through revenue sharing but by early 2024 they must have a deal for a new ballpark if they want to keep that revenue sharing money coming.
Note that per the link above, the new park doesn't have to necessarily be in Oakland, though an environmental study of the possible Howard Terminal ballpark location in Oakland was approved by their City Council last month.

Quote:

---

"We've never been this far in terms of making our vision for the waterfront ballpark for the A's a reality," A's president Dave Kaval said following the council vote. "There is still a lot of work to be done. This is an important accomplishment and an important milestone to reach."

---

There's more in this BCB article from last December.
Whether this park in Oakland comes to reality or whether they relocate to Las Vegas or elsewhere, they've got to get it done by January 2024, less than two years from now, or they lose all revenue sharing funds. This is binding by the terms of the new CBA.
It would appear that we will soon, at long last, know where the permanent home of the Oakland Athletics will be.

WalterSobchak said:

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Mulder and Zito have to be right at the top, but you're right the edge goes to Mulder. My first thought was Cespedes, but he had a couple better years after leaving than he had in Oakland before falling off.

---

I agree about Zito. His last season with the A's the opposition was smacking him deep with regularity…but many Giant's fans told me his couple of WS wins was worth his huge contract.

*Huddy was the "One that got away."

The Oakland A’s had the highest payroll in baseball in 1991. It was $33M that year, the very same number it is today.

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) April 3, 2022

Data: Sportico; Table: Thomas Oide/Axios

….and in other news (Axios):

Top 10:

Nike: $33.2B
Louis Vuitton: $23.4B
Gucci: $18.1B
Chanel: $15.3B
Adidas: $14.6B
Herms: $13.5B
Zara: $13B
H&M: $12.7B
Cartier: $12.4B
Uniqlo: $9.6B