MLB Stadium Saga: Oakland/Tampa Bay/Southside

[GDAWG]

3 minutes ago, Walk-Off said:

 

Among potential surprises that are big and yet plausible, I would go with Dave Kaval and company paying off the ownerships of both the Yankees and the Mets (and maybe paying off the Phillies' ownership also) and then moving the A's to the northeast quadrant of New Jersey.  Some studies have suggested that, from a financial standpoint, the New York City and Los Angeles television markets would each be able to support three MLB teams more easily than any currently MLB-free TV market in the United States would be able to support one MLB franchise.

 

It would be quite interesting to see how the divisions would work in that scenario.  

[GDAWG]

Things could get quite messy if the A's move East to Nashville, New Jersey or the Carolinas, which I kind of want to see happen. 

[GhostOfNormMacdonald]

30 minutes ago, Walk-Off said:

Some studies have suggested that, from a financial standpoint, the New York City and Los Angeles television markets would each be able to support three MLB teams more easily than any currently MLB-free TV market in the United States would be able to support one MLB franchise.

Los Angeles Athletics would be a special kind of messed up

[sky1324]

9 minutes ago, NormMacdonald said:

Los Angeles Athletics would be a special kind of messed up

The LA's

[DG_ThenNowForever]

16 minutes ago, QCS said:

The LA's

 

There she goes again.

[DukeofChutney]

1 hour ago, GDAWG said:

 

Albuquerque or Reno.

I quite like the sound of the Albuquerque Athletics.

1 hour ago, Walk-Off said:

 

Among potential surprises that are big and yet plausible, I would go with Dave Kaval and company paying off the ownerships of both the Yankees and the Mets (and maybe paying off the Phillies' ownership also) and then moving the A's to the northeast quadrant of New Jersey.  Some studies have suggested that, from a financial standpoint, the New York City and Los Angeles television markets would each be able to support three MLB teams more easily than any currently MLB-free TV market in the United States would be able to support one MLB franchise.

I would not have thought of either of those. Guess its a crowded market, but full of possibilities.

[DukeofChutney]

Probably been said already but....

 

Athletics move to where ever and Rays then move to Oakland.

 

So they'd loose the A's and gain the Rays.

[LMU]

1 hour ago, GDAWG said:

Things could get quite messy if the A's move East to Nashville, New Jersey or the Carolinas, which I kind of want to see happen. 

Not really.  Just move the Royals to the West and potentially the Jays to the Central and you're good.

1 minute ago, DukeofChutney said:

Probably been said already but....

 

Athletics move to where ever and Rays then move to Oakland.

 

So they'd loose the A's and gain the Rays.

Oakland isn't going to suddenly pull a change of heart after a franchise leaves like Cleveland did.  Oakland has proven to be hostile towards its sports franchises so if the A's leave that market will be radioactive for decades.

[GDAWG]

1 hour ago, NormMacdonald said:

Los Angeles Athletics would be a special kind of messed up

 

LAA vs. LAA on TV, in the same division.

[beachperroAZ]

14 hours ago, Joke Insurance said:

Could any of these cities be in contention?

 

San Antonio

Austin

El Paso

Tucson

Fresno

Inland Empire (San Bernadino/Riverside)

Salt Lake City

 

I'll also throw some Mexican cities into the mix:

 

Mexico City

Guadalajara

Monterrey

People here in Tucson wont support the Dbags who are 2 hours away because they are a Phoenix team.  People here are big Red Sox, Yankee, Cub and Dodger fans.  I don't think they would support an MLB team here and if they do it would be out of spite against the Dbags who treated Tucson bad when they left the city/county holding the bag on an 8 year old spring training facility that was no longer good enough for them.  The owner that came along after Colangelo alienated Southern AZ really bad.  

[Wings]

5 years from now we'll still be talking about the A's threatening to leave Oakland. 

[Walk-Off]

1 hour ago, GDAWG said:

 

LAA vs. LAA on TV, in the same division.

 

LAN (Angels) vs. LAT (Athletics) might work.

 

With that said, I think that if and when the Greater Los Angeles region gains a third MLB franchise, such a team is most likely to play home games somewhere in the Inland Empire, which appears to be isolated enough from both Los Angeles County and Orange County to deliver a more or less captive audience to that ball club.  Other possibilities that I see are Long Beach (which tried to get the Angels both when Gene Autry wanted out of Chavez Ravine in the 1960s and when Arte Moreno got antsy about the team's long-term prospects in Anaheim a few years ago), the San Fernando Valley, or even Ventura County.

Edited May 12, 2021 by Walk-Off
Added speculation as to where a third "Los Angeles" MLB team might play

[gosioux76]

9 hours ago, Walk-Off said:

 

The Portland area has two standing proposals now for a major-league-caliber baseball park.  A few weeks ago, the Portland Diamond Project's plan for an MLB venue at the Port of Portland's Terminal 2 gained a intra-metropolitan competitor in the form of a proposal for an MLB park within a hypothetical mixed-use development in Gresham, a suburb east of Portland.  Thus, the Athletics' owners could not only play the overall Portland metro area against any other possible relocation destination and/or Oakland, but could also pit the City of Portland proper against Gresham in the battle to give the A's the most attractive ballpark offer.

 

The Gresham project is the latest attempt in the 25-year odyssey of Lynn Lashbrook to bring MLB to Portland. I give him points for persistence, but this initiative -- much like his prior attempts -- is little more than pie-eyed optimism. There's a rendering, but nothing in the way of a legitimate plan. As that story lays out, this is just Lashbrook attempting to kickstart a community discussion around the idea of MLB in Gresham. 

 

As for the Portland Diamond Project, they've been spinning their wheels for years now. At this point, they're little more than an apparel brand. Russell Wilson's involvement appears to be cosmetic. They've been talking from the start about how they've got some big-money investors behind the scenes, but they've never shown their cards. The effort could turn out to be legitimate, but at this point it's mostly hype. 

[FiddySicks]

3 hours ago, DukeofChutney said:

Just a curveball question - what location would be the biggest surprise for the move?

 

Doesn't have to be one of the locations already mentioned. I'm thinking Seattle Pilots level of unexpected here.

 

 

 

 

Sacramento. It would be even more of a :censored:show than the whole Pilots saga. 
 

EDIT: Also, lol at the person above who suggested Reno. My God what a disaster that would be. 

[LMU]

55 minutes ago, FiddySicks said:

Sacramento. It would be even more of a :censored:show than the whole Pilots saga. 
 

EDIT: Also, lol at the person above who suggested Reno. My God what a disaster that would be. 

I think a lot of people need a course in Western US geography.

 

Just because you've heard of a place doesn't mean there's a bunch of people there and there probably aren't any cities to pull more people from for quite a few miles.

 

Reno's metropolitan area, is under 500K.  Bakersfield's is at 850K.  Fresno is 975K.  These cities can't fill a stadium 81 days a year.  Stop it.

[McCall]

1 hour ago, DukeofChutney said:

Probably been said already but....

 

Athletics move to where ever and Rays then move to Oakland.

 

So they'd loose the A's and gain the Rays.

Yeah, that makes no sense. This isn't a Sonics-OKC situation where the success of a multi-team market is there, it's just a stadium issue, but the new owner wants to move the team to his hometown. This is a "pretty much no possibility of ever getting a new stadium, and also the other 2 major teams jumped ship" situation. When the A's leave, Oakland's done.

[flasah]

42 minutes ago, LMU said:

I think a lot of people need a course in Western US geography.

 

Just because you've heard of a place doesn't mean there's a bunch of people there and there probably aren't any cities to pull more people from for quite a few miles.

 

Reno's metropolitan area, is under 500K.  Bakersfield's is at 850K.  Fresno is 975K.  These cities can't fill a stadium 81 days a year.  Stop it.

 

Yeah I don't think any city under 2 million could support an MLB team. Currently only Milwaukee is under that.

These are the available western cities over 1 million:

Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA 4,650,631 San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX 2,550,960 Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA 2,492,412 Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA 2,363,730 Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV 2,266,715 Vancouver, BC 2,264,823 Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX 2,227,083 San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA 1,990,660 Oklahoma City, OK 1,408,950 Salt Lake City, UT 1,232,696 Tucson, AZ 1,047,279

[Wings]

San Jose would be the ultimate 

option but that won't happen ever. 

[LMU]

3 minutes ago, flasah said:

 

Yeah I don't think any city under 2 million could support an MLB team. Currently only Milwaukee is under that.

These are the available western cities over 1 million:

Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA 4,650,631 San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX 2,550,960 Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA 2,492,412 Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA 2,363,730 Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV 2,266,715 Vancouver, BC 2,264,823 Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX 2,227,083 San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA 1,990,660 Oklahoma City, OK 1,408,950 Salt Lake City, UT 1,232,696 Tucson, AZ 1,047,279

The Riverside/San Bernardino census area is two counties encompassing an area  roughly 175 by 175 miles and even with that aside, the area is completely integrated into the LA media market.  That’s not happening.

[McCall]

Just now, flasah said:

 

Yeah I don't think any city under 2 million could support an MLB team. Currently only Milwaukee is under that.

These are the available western cities over 1 million:

Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA 4,650,631 San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX 2,550,960 Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA 2,492,412 Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA 2,363,730 Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV 2,266,715 Vancouver, BC 2,264,823 Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX 2,227,083 San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA 1,990,660 Oklahoma City, OK 1,408,950 Salt Lake City, UT 1,232,696 Tucson, AZ 1,047,279

INLAND EMPIRE: Outside chance if they were really open to a 3rd LA-area team. Though, you have to remember, the Padres are Southern California, too, so that would be FOUR teams in the SoCal region. So doubtful.

SAN ANTONIO & AUSTIN (One or the other, basically close enough to be considered one market): Possibility.

PORTLAND: Strong Possibility.

SACRAMENTO: Not really.

LAS VEGAS: Strong Possibility.

VANCOUVER: Outside chance. Mariners would probably veto it due to the proximity to Seattle.

SAN JOSE: Giants will never allow it since they control the rights. So, no.

OKC: No chance.

SALT LAKE CITY: Not really.

TUCSON: Not in a million years.