MLB N/V July: LAST CALL FOR TRADES

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Sports Argument Stadium > MLB N/V July: LAST CALL FOR TRADES

Senf: Nov 12, 2006

Or Sonny Gray.

# ¿ Jul 2, 2017 08:34

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# ¿ Apr 19, 2024 20:55

Senf: Nov 12, 2006

Sydin posted:

The A's want a new stadium because O.co is kind of a shithole, and the city of Oakland just doesn't have the money to do it. Meanwhile San Jose is trying to build up the area around the SAP Center and Diridon, and were willing to invest $462 million into building the A's a stadium in the area in conjunction with the neighborhood. Beyond the fact that it'd be a new stadium, San Jose is both larger in terms of population and more affluent, and the proposed location would put the stadium within walking distance of downtown and literally right next to San Jose's main Caltrain hub, as well as at the center of a neighborhood the city is trying fairly hard to gentrify. So basically more tickets at a higher price.

Also MLB are hilariously incompetent fuckwits and recently significantly reduced the A's cut of revenue sharing because they play in a "big market", despite Oakland's financial situation and the resulting ticket sales. So I'm sure they figured if they're going to be treated like a big market team, they might as well actually move to a big market.

San Jose would have been great, but Oakland is most definitely happening now. Hell, the team's new slogan is Rooted in Oakland.

The A's are currently surveying three sites for a privately financed ballpark: 1) Laney College; 2) the Coliseum lot; 3) and Howard Terminal. In short:

Laney College: My favorite of the three. Downtown and by Lake Merritt. Walking distance from a major BART stop and right next to a major freeway. Easiest community to develop. However, even though much of the college campus would remain, the team and city would have to figure out where to move the college's administrative offices. No concept art yet.

Coliseum Lot: Easiest site to build on. BART is connected to it. Freeway next door. We could celebrate the destruction of the Coliseum. But it's really far away from downtown and surrounding development would be a huge challenge. No concept art yet.

Howard Terminal: My least favorite site. Extremely expensive due to $200m or more worth of required waste cleanup. Transit issues are crazy, too: it's 1.5 miles away from the nearest BART stop, there's very little room for parking, and Amtrak runs right in front of the terminal. Game days would be a poo poo show. This unofficial concept art is very pretty, though:

The team is currently conducting focus groups with fans and community leaders to see which site makes the most sense. They plan to announce which site they're building on by the end of the year.

This is about all I have in me for this post, but if anyone has any questions, let me know. I can't wait to be done with this bullshit.

# ¿ Jul 11, 2017 22:12

Senf: Nov 12, 2006

Niwrad posted:

This is cool even if it blatantly rips off AT&T Park.

Yep. Building a newer, fancier AT&T Park directly across the Bay from AT&T Park would be hilarious and cool, but man, it's just such a terrible site.

Craptacular! posted:

Since the days when the A's gave the Giants a pre-tech-boom San Jose in hopes that they'd move there and give the A's a stronger grip on the SF/Marin/Sonoma markets, both teams changed owners, and the people that own the Giants now paid a premium because of San Jose. The people that own the A's now paid a song because it's neither San Francisco or San Jose.

It's a dumb system, but the SF owners paid a lot of money for the entitlement to lord over San Jose.

Uhhh, no. Back in the early 1990's, former Giant's owner Bob Lurie finally said gently caress it after a few local ballot measures failed - including one in Santa Clara and another in San Jose - and opted to sell to an ownership group that wanted to relocate the franchise to Tampa Bay. But after a majority of National League owners voted against the sale/move, Lurie caved and sold to the current group of owners for less than the Tampa Bay group had offered. Better yet, it's been widely reported that prior to both the failed sale and approved sale, former A's owner Walter Haas gifted the South Bay territorial rights to Lurie for free.

So yeah, no. The current ownership group purchased the Giants for a bargain and didn't even have to bother negotiating for the South Bay because it was grandfathered in at no additional cost. Hooray!

Yes, I am salty. But give me a privately financed ballpark in Oakland and I won't care anymore.

Senf fucked around with this message at 00:50 on Jul 12, 2017

# ¿ Jul 12, 2017 00:48

Senf: Nov 12, 2006

Ammat The Ankh posted:

I'm digging the decorative Things That Look Like AT-AT Walkers.

Also the reason the A's got their revenue sharing reduced was because (thankfully former) owner Lew Wolff was pocketing it and spending nothing on the team.

Lew was a minority owner (with a 10% stake), but as the managing partner, he became the face of the franchise. John Fisher - the GAP dude - is still the majority owner. It's my understanding that though there's definitely a little bit of truth to them pocketing some of the revenue sharing, the main reason the league decided to strip it is because (1) the franchise will no longer "need" the cash once a new ballpark generates additional revenue and (2) it ensures that the team finally speeds their hunt for a new ballpark site the gently caress up.

And so far, it seems to be working. New team president is killing it, ballpark studies are happening left and right, and they've committed to a site announcement this year.

And yeah, those are cranes for the Port of Oakland. They'd be great as ballpark props, even better as light structures :allears:

Senf fucked around with this message at 02:05 on Jul 12, 2017

# ¿ Jul 12, 2017 02:03

Senf: Nov 12, 2006

Inspector_666 posted:

That's what it should take, but it's the A's so maybe they'd let him got for 12 Low-A guys I've never heard of.

Yeah, but at least one of them would turn into Josh Donaldson :c00lbert:

# ¿ Jul 14, 2017 19:01

Senf: Nov 12, 2006

ego symphonic posted:

I like this a lot. Luzardo was highly regarded but has pitched fewer than 15 innings of professional baseball and I'm perfectly content to let somebody else try to figure out how to make Blake Treinen good. As long as Madson and Doolittle can avoid publicly choking Bryce Harper in the dugout this looks like an awesome return.

Doolittle and Bryce are about to be best buds.

But yeah, that's a weird return for the A's.

# ¿ Jul 16, 2017 20:42

Senf: Nov 12, 2006

screaden posted:

Was Doolittle the guy who organised the pride nights with his wife?

Yep. They've also hosted a Syrian refugee family for the holidays and do a bunch of charitable work for veterans.

They're cool as all hell and the community here is really going to miss them.

# ¿ Jul 17, 2017 08:47