MLB Stadium Saga: Oakland/Tampa Bay/Southside

[FiddySicks]

6 hours ago, FrutigerAero said:

Anyone get a PNC-park vibe from Sacramento Rivercat's ballpark?

I’ve been to hundreds of RiverCats games (including briefly being a mascot for them in high school) and it’s one of my favorite parks in all of baseball. The view of downtown is phenomenal. I can definitely see the comparisons. 

[LMU]

10 hours ago, FiddySicks said:

I’ve been to hundreds of RiverCats games (including briefly being a mascot for them in high school) and it’s one of my favorite parks in all of baseball. The view of downtown is phenomenal. I can definitely see the comparisons. 

Points like this get lost in the A's/Coyotes comparisons.  The Coyotes had to downgrade to a gimmicky arena meant for college kids that they had to build a temporary annex to bring up to code.  The A's get an immense upgrade in atmosphere combined with functioning plumbing.

[GDAWG]

1 hour ago, LMU said:

Points like this get lost in the A's/Coyotes comparisons.  The Coyotes had to downgrade to a gimmicky arena meant for college kids that they had to build a temporary annex to bring up to code.  The A's get an immense upgrade in atmosphere combined with functioning plumbing.

 

If Sutter Health Ballpark is a fantastic minor league ballpark, it might play a factor as to why the MLBPA has been completely silent about this move.  They have recently complained about the exorbitant amount of pitching injuries and yet still remain silent on the A's move to Sacramento.  

[FiddySicks]

Sutter Health Park was also built with the idea that it would some day be expanded into a MLB sized park. Sacramento has low key been vying for a MLB team since at least the year 2000. 

[tigerslionspistonshabs]

In a nutshell, what's the story with the failed/half completed ballpark next to ARCO? 

[Fowler2]

11 minutes ago, tigerslionspistonshabs said:

In a nutshell, what's the story with the failed/half completed ballpark next to ARCO? 

 

Former Kings owner Gregg Lukenbill wanted to privately finance a multi-purpose stadium to try and lure an mlb or nfl team to Sacramento. I'm sure @FiddySicks can better fill us in on it a little bit better. 

[tigerslionspistonshabs]

So at this point, let's say the Vegas deal implodes after the A's make the move to Sactown....would they likely then stay in Sacramento?

[TBGKon]

3 hours ago, tigerslionspistonshabs said:

So at this point, let's say the Vegas deal implodes after the A's make the move to Sactown....would they likely then stay in Sacramento?

I think at that point Sacramento could be an option, but you'd likely have the Salt Lake's and Nashville's of the world kicking the tires too.

[FiddySicks]

5 hours ago, BottomlessPitt said:

 

Former Kings owner Gregg Lukenbill wanted to privately finance a multi-purpose stadium to try and lure an mlb or nfl team to Sacramento. I'm sure @FiddySicks can better fill us in on it a little bit better. 

Yeah it was like a lot of these attempts to bring teams to Sac. They get amped up, find a face willing to try, and then everyone realizes there isn’t enough of a pot to pull money from, and it falls apart. 
 

Even the Kings situation was weird. The NBA wasn’t quite what it is today, and the original building they played in (Arco 1) was a converted office building (which has since been converted back to an office). The whole thing was sort of a smash and grab, which is actually pretty similar to how Vivek is playing the angles here with the A’s.  
 

 

 

That failed baseball stadium sat and rotted for three decades, and I think is being converted into a medical school. 

[Walk-Off]

ESPN: Inside the meetings that officially moved the A's from Oakland to Sacramento

[tp49]

On 4/9/2024 at 12:47 PM, FiddySicks said:

Sutter Health Park was also built with the idea that it would some day be expanded into a MLB sized park. Sacramento has low key been vying for a MLB team since at least the year 2000. 

Chip Maxon's been on record as recently as last week saying that Raley Field (I'll never call it SHP for reasons)  was never engineered to have a second deck added to it.  I found it odd because up until a couple of years ago I'd heard it was expandable.

 

On 4/9/2024 at 1:16 PM, tigerslionspistonshabs said:

So at this point, let's say the Vegas deal implodes after the A's make the move to Sactown....would they likely then stay in Sacramento?

The answer is it depends.  The key issue being how much they would still be able to get from their television contract with NBCSCA because the close to $70 million they get from it is the reason the A's aren't temporarily relocating to the Las Vegas Ballpark.  Sacramento has a major flaw that MLB would have difficulty overlooking if the A's were to stay there and that is there is zero corporate base to draw support from.  It's why the Sacramento region was hit so hard during the 2008/9 recession.  Surprisingly, or not, city leaders did not learn form what happened and have done next to nothing to diversify Sacramento's economy.

 

On 4/9/2024 at 5:12 PM, TBGKon said:

I think at that point Sacramento could be an option, but you'd likely have the Salt Lake's and Nashville's of the world kicking the tires too.

See above.  Of those three Nashville would be the most viable.

[FiddySicks]

Yup. The corporate base is the killer. It’s getting better (I think), but still lags way behind most other markets. 
 

As for the lack of expansion to Raley Field (I agree, I’ll never get used to SHP), I’ve actually heard a slightly different story. What I’ve heard was that the idea was tossed around by the construction firm as a potential feature, and the club kinda just ran with it. Put up a sign on the stadium with the expansion renderings and everything. But when they actually looked into the logistics of it, and had a surveyor look at the park, it was determined that the foundation wouldn’t be able to hold it (something to do with the land. It’s basically on an old riverbed). 

[bosrs1]

On 4/9/2024 at 9:47 AM, FiddySicks said:

Sutter Health Park was also built with the idea that it would some day be expanded into a MLB sized park. Sacramento has low key been vying for a MLB team since at least the year 2000. 

That’s an urban myth. The  Raley Field does not have major league caliber facilities under the grandstand nor can the upper deck support any kind of expansion. It would have to be completely demolished to be expanded. 

[GDAWG]

32 minutes ago, bosrs1 said:

That’s an urban myth. The  Raley Field does not have major league caliber facilities under the grandstand nor can the upper deck support any kind of expansion. It would have to be completely demolished to be expanded. 

 

The thing is though is that Sutter Health Park only needs to do enough renovations to get the approval of the Players Association.  Sahlen Field in Buffalo had to undergo renovations before the MLBPA signed off on it as the temporary home of the Blue Jays due to travel restrictions.  

 

The fact that they have been completely silent about the A's move to Sacramento and yet they have been outspoken about the uniforms and the large amount of pitching injuries is interesting.   

[Walk-Off]

On 4/9/2024 at 1:16 PM, tigerslionspistonshabs said:

So at this point, let's say the Vegas deal implodes after the A's make the move to Sactown....would they likely then stay in Sacramento?

 

On 4/9/2024 at 5:12 PM, TBGKon said:

I think at that point Sacramento could be an option, but you'd likely have the Salt Lake's and Nashville's of the world kicking the tires too.

 

On 4/10/2024 at 10:33 PM, tp49 said:

Of those three Nashville would be the most viable.

 

I agree that an MLB team in Nashville would be economically more viable than one in Salt Lake City or especially Sacramento.  However, the MLB establishment's apparent present-day aversion to cross-country relocations of franchises leads me to believe that an A's franchise that sees its Las Vegas ambitions fall apart is far more likely to play in another western US market (e.g. moving to SLC; moving to Portland, Oregon; or staying in Sacramento) while MLB saves Nashville for either an expansion team or a relocation of a franchise from either a fellow Central Time Zone market (e.g. the Chicago White Sox or the Kansas City Royals) or the Eastern Time Zone (e.g. the Tampa Bay Rays).

[bosrs1]

5 hours ago, GDAWG said:

 

The thing is though is that Sutter Health Park only needs to do enough renovations to get the approval of the Players Association.  Sahlen Field in Buffalo had to undergo renovations before the MLBPA signed off on it as the temporary home of the Blue Jays due to travel restrictions.  

 

The fact that they have been completely silent about the A's move to Sacramento and yet they have been outspoken about the uniforms and the large amount of pitching injuries is interesting.   

 

As a temporary venue sure, with the modifications they’ll make it’ll suffice short term. But it’s not suitable as a long term venue. And without being demolished it can’t be made into a suitable venue. 

[LMU]

11 hours ago, bosrs1 said:

 

As a temporary venue sure, with the modifications they’ll make it’ll suffice short term. But it’s not suitable as a long term venue. And without being demolished it can’t be made into a suitable venue. 

But again, compared to the Coliseum it’ll feel like playing like PNC Park.

[GDAWG]

18 hours ago, bosrs1 said:

 

As a temporary venue sure, with the modifications they’ll make it’ll suffice short term. But it’s not suitable as a long term venue. And without being demolished it can’t be made into a suitable venue. 

 

It only has to be enough to get approval from the Players Association for those three years.