Oakland needs an MLB Task Force (starting now)

49 comments

1. Oakland is a dying city because of the Democratic Party’s policies. No smart business person would want to do business there and this includes entertainment business like MLB. Crime is out of control and the taxes are insane. Blame the people that continuously vote Democratic party.

2. It's not that Oakland shouldn't do this. It's that Oakland shouldn't do this on its own. Oakland needs to do this as part of a larger city revitalization project with bigger commercial ties. You need a big corporate entity to set up headquarters or an online retailer such as Amazon to set up a large-scale delivery hub or maybe a few companies setting up manufacturing plants so that you can draw workers and commerce. One of them in turn theoretically could sponsor the new stadium. Whatever it looks like, an effort to return a team to Oakland can't operate in a vacuum.

3. What a waste of

   Time

4. Sadly, there's absolutely no way Oakland get a team in either MLB or the NFL again. Where the NFL is concerned, Oakland is within the home territory of the 49'ers, and they are not going to allow a new team to infringe upon their territorial rights. As for MLB, forgotten to most is that back in the 1960's the American League and National League were very much distinct from one another. The American League could move into Oakland no matter how much the Giants wailed about it; AL owners voted on it, and they didn't care about how it'd impact the Giants in San Francisco. Today those dividing lines are gone, and even if the Giants were amenable to having their territorial rights infringed with a new Oakland-based team? Oakland wouldn't get the votes of current owners to expand there; and unless the Giants relocate, they never will.

5. Sorry Brodie you are dreaming

6. Kansas City Missouri has the same probably Oakland has. Changing demographics, economic downturn.

   Billionaires get what they want and if for some reason they don't, they get the next best thing.

7. The reality is Oakland does not deserve a team! Its been a problem for the last 2 decades now that the A's couldnt fill the seats even in there good years. The city and the STATE have fought A's ownership with regards to a new stadium even before John Fisher was the owner! Thats actually one of the main reasons the Raiders left too! The reality is that Athletics fans should've made sure that stadium was FULL for every home game and show John Fisher and MLB that they still wanted a team in Oakland instead they made it look like they dont really care about MLB!

8. I think it might work. All Oakland needs to do is to regain their confidence to be a "can do" city if they want something like that done.

9. no one is ever going to go to Oakland, they've lost 3 sports teams in the last 10 years for a reason, old inadequate facilities and taking forever to do anything.

10. Montreal needs their team back

11. Oak losing 3 teams

    Plus an Airport

    ** reported by Mr Brazil

12. Oakland will never get another NFL MLB or NBA team again

13. I admire your loyalty to Oakland, but the city is now laying off cops to “fix” its budget crisis. Oakland is in the death spiral its voters have chosen, much like California as a whole. Decline is a choice.

    Yes, the fans have been screwed over, but Oakland isn’t a good place to put a convenience store now.

14. I don't see the Big Four pro sports leagues returning to the East Bay. Perhaps Oakland could expand MLS? The best option is for Cal to join the Big Ten and for the area to become a college sports town.

15. MLB in Oakland is over. Sorry to the city of Oakland

16. I don't think that a bad idea, but it's a bit late now. After losing their 3rd major league franchise in a short span it's sadly, a lost cause. The Giants got their stadium built 25 years ago now, and Oakland needed to step up along with the A's…but even before Fisher, to keep it a solid and profitable franchise. I speak from my own experience of my youth as a Washington Senators fan who had my team moved to become the Texas Rangers in 1972. That broke my heart as a 15 year old who loved that losing team. I hated that, but the owner was in a losing situation with a poor team and only fair attendance. I don't like Fisher, but do see similarities to my Senators in the day. It all sucks!

17. I don’t see how you convince any major sports franchise that Oakland deserves another team. They have already lost 3, and you can say it was all for different reasons; but that just shows how good Oakland is at losing teams that they have 3 completely different ways. The Bay Area still has major teams, and there are up and coming cities who can be entirely new markets, with growth and stability.

18. Especially that diversity mayor and da that let criminals go and city accidentally released a report saying that the city may go into bankruptcy if the city can’t do something about it so now a mlb will not happen there when voters will reject it and that they have bigger problems.

19. I want nothing to do with the MLB in the eastbay.

20. I suspect that MLB will quickly realize that Sutter Health Park is not viable. I thought that perhaps MLB would step in and get the A's back to the Coliseum for 2026, perhaps by commandeering the A's revenue sharing money to help pay for this effort). But this gets more complicated now with the issue with Tropicana (how often should the other teams bail out an owner?)

    I agree, though, that once everything settles and the A's end up somewhere else, the Bay Area will never have another baseball team besides the Giants

21. Why was Dublin/Pleasanton ever considered for a stadium? These East Bay citizens pay the highest taxes in the State. They have no pro teams yet they’d be able to afford the A’s.

22. You are completely delusional. Until Oakland is safe enough for an In N Out burger, it's not safe enough for MLB!

23. Oakland need new owner who want mlb team and major Oakland

24. Oakland is getting a pro cricket team

25. When the A’s were winning the fans showed up , when they were losing they didn’t unlike the Cubs , Red Sox who’s fans show up no matter what winning or losing ..Manfred who is the worse commissioner in MLB history is right on one thing the A’s fans have the Giants they can cheer for in the Bay area, so there is no way Oakland will ever see another MLB club . It’s not only that Oakland is a war zone full of blight it’s also California regulations and insane politics that not only destroyed that city but pretty much the entire state driving businesses away to states like Texas , Nevada , Tennessee .

26. Has anyone else noticed Brodie uses a different color palette when the topic is the A’s?

27. Philadelphia, St Louis, and Boston once second ML teams. I can't see those teams allowing a competitor onto their turf in the future. I also can't imagine the Bears allowing a second NFL team into metro Chicago, even though they had the Cards for decades. Likewise, if a second team isn't put in the Bay Area in the next couple of years, I can't see the Giants allowing a competitor to enter the market either.

28. I don't see the A's playing two years in Sacramento. They may be able to fill the ball park, but there is going to be major push back from players and media for major league players playing in a minor league park particularly for more than a year. The fall back would be going back to a major league park in Oakland. Obviously that ain't happening WITHOUT the intervention of the powers that be in MLB. Brodie you are talking about a voluntary intervention. That ain't happening because MLB is operated by lazy cowards just cashing their checks. But I see the possibility of a situation where they are forced to intervene and place the A's back in a major league venue for the 26 season. After all whether the Vegas stadium comes off on schedule is doubtful because NOTHING A's ownership has projected has come off on schedule.

29. MLB is steering clear of Oakland for the foreseeable future….

30. I think this could be built in the background but the best thing fans could do is just turn off the MLB broadcasts and then you have “net new” fans to pitch as well. And in a few years have the background work done and it’s easier to go.

    Also John Fisher isn’t allowed with a mile of the new site. Ever.

31. Simple solution: the Oakland Rays

32. I agree with you 💯 percent Brodie, this is a fantastic idea. Oakland never quits… Time to reposition ourselves and make all of this right!

33. Aqua team hunger force oakland

34. THIS is a project 2025 we can all get behind 🤣🤣🤣

35. Oakland California new MLB 0%chance

36. It's the politician's fault 100%. Democrat rule. I'm sorry but that's the truth. There's too much money nearby for all teams to leave, but Oakland is not really livable anymore. I'm from California, and know Oakland well. I hate to see this, and it has nothing at all to do with race, demographics…it's solely politicians and the decisions they make. Ok, if you want to blame the voters, sure, but the demographics didn't really change, America as a whole did.

    Trump should work to fix this. It's really sad.

37. Why stop at MLB? I would say also make the sites available to the NFL, MLS, hell maybe NHL as well. Open up the market to the Major leagues and hope for the best. May never happen but maybe worth a shot

38. The A's had found the Peralta College site, they were going to build a ballpark and whole neighborhood like Fenway but Mayor Libby Schaff didn't want to displace her non English speaking people (illegals) ..Not saying she was wrong but that's Oakland's mindset..Baseball is not high priority

39. Oakland needs to let it go. Your city had 20 plus years to figure out and couldn’t or wouldn’t. That’s fine it’s a poor city that really should be spending the money elsewhere. There is a reason every major sports franchise left.

40. Simple fact is MLB will go where the money goes.

    The East Bay is one of the top real estate markets in the country, has a huge concentration of wealth and an expansive reach for a fanbase.

    Manfred himself even said Oakland and the greater east Bay remains an OPEN market and does not become Giants territory.

    Everyone just wants to hate on Oakland. Like every other MLB city is just white picket fences with zero crime.

    John Fisher couldn't afford to build in California. It's as simple as that.

    If he built in Oakland he would lose his MLB welfare because he couldn't use the coliseum as an excuse anymore.

41. You forgot the Diamondbacks! There’s way too many unstable situations currently playing out in MLB: Athletics, Angels, Diamondbacks, White Sox & Rays are not guaranteed. At least Kansas City is only in conflict between 2 states.

    Let’s not forget that the Las Vegas situation isn’t completely stable and there’s no guarantee of any set in stone with Bally’s struggling finances plus, John Fisher in charge. My guess is that the MLB removed relocation fees because they need other cities to be more willing to invest in their franchises.

42. If Oakland or the A's specifically had an owner like Steve Cohen or Mark Cuben who are forward thinkers and willing to actually invest rather than undermine for short term profits now, then Oakland would be a great place to have a sports team. But that is unfortunately asking too much out of our system these days. Oakland needs the jobs, but it also needs less income inequality and that would mean high-end jobs for normal folks and again, that is too much to ask of our system these days.

43. A's or nothing. No thanks on relocating another team. No thanks on expansion unless we get the A's name.

44. I agree. Cities need task forces to help bring major sports teams to them. Oakland is a great sports city, BUT they’ve been plagued by poor and/or greedy owners even back to the beginning, as well as political issues.

    I think you would be a great member of such a task force: a really well-received visible member of the community with a great overall understanding of the issues such a committee would face. I know you don’t have an in-depth knowledge of all the issues. But you do understand the relationship between teams and their community fanbases, and would definitely be a good face of such a group (not as a spokesperson but as a community member passionate about sports teams and their communities).

45. I’d do the same thing for my rays. Need them in Tampa if this st pete vote is no

46. You’re right, this is what they should do. Oakland is far too dysfunctional to make it happen. Also, I feel like MLB has moved on from Oakland in general.

47. Oakland will never get another MLB team, and to keep false hope alive among Oakland residents is either click-baity or intellectually dishonest, or both. It's the same reason the Rays are trying to backdoor out of St. Pete. Those cities are run down hell holes that no one wants to take their family to for a MLB game.

48. The San Francisco Giants are too close to Oakland for the MLB to ever consider having another MLB team in the city. Since Oakland lost three Major League teams in most recent history things do not look good. Oakland can still be a city for minor league, independent league, & maybe other sports that are not as popular.

49. Oakland is a rotten, crime infested, corrupt city. No one is their right mind would want to visit much less have a business there. Team owners have probably been breathing sighs of relief over getting out of there.