A nonbinding vote will be made by eight Oakland city officials on a $12 billion development and ballpark plan. Receiving an affirmative vote will keep the hope alive for the Oakland Athletics to remain in Oakland, but a dissenting vote will begin the process of the team’s relocation.

Dave Kaval, President of the A’s, was extremely uncertain which way the vote would go. “Our future in Oakland is hanging in the balance and we are doing everything we can to get a ‘yes’ vote tomorrow on our plan and keep the A’s rooted in Oakland. But we don’t know if we’re gonna get a positive vote. There’s still a lot of areas we’re apart significantly with the city, and we go into the vote not knowing how it’s gonna play out.”

This process has gone on for two decades as the team has tried to secure a brand new stadium in the Bay Area. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred recently referred to this vote after the prolonged process as “the end.” Several locations have been denied such as San Jose and other locations in Oakland, while renovations of the Coliseum have been deemed nonviable.

The A’s have made public proposals for a new stadium in Oakland for the cost of about $1 billion including $450 million in community benefits, with an $11 billion additional cost to build up the surrounding community. The city of Oakland made a counterproposal. “Lacks details and specifics and really doesn’t answer any of the questions that we have that need to be addressed to continue to move forward,” said Kaval about the counter.

A major issue that has surfaced in the plan is the A’s request of the city of Oakland to pay $855 million in infrastructure improvements using taxes generated from the project. The A’s and the city each proposed infrastructure plans that the other dissented. The city of Oakland’s proposed plan would leave Kaval and the A’s with a $352 million shortage.

Kaval has been at the forefront of the A’s stadium efforts since 2016. He was not pleased with the shortage of money the A’s would be forced to cover.

“That’s an extraordinary sum of money. And not having specificity is a key concern. There’s also concern about additional taxes that they’re putting on the project — condo transfer tax, a transportation tax that obviously push up the cost, as well. Those are all items that are problematic. And we’ve been clear that the project can only do so much. We can’t solve all of Oakland’s problems, but we can do a lot to make this a better community and keep the A’s here for many generations to come. And that’s why we’re looking for an affirmative vote on our plan.”

“Hopefully it goes in our direction. I’d love to stay in Oakland. I hope the team stays in Oakland. We have a long, rich history here. I think that’s the case with anybody who’s either grown up here or lives here or is an Oakland A’s baseball fan or a player,” said A’s manager Bob Melvin.

Justin Berton, a spokesperson for Oakland’s Mayor Schaaf, released a statement after the Mayor Office refused to provide comments to ESPN. “The City and the A’s are continuing their dialogue today with the shared goal to make a world-class ballpark a reality. The City will continue to advocate for a proposal that supports and serves Oakland and our entire region, provides affordable housing, public parks, great jobs and other direct benefits for the community — all without risk to our Port, our taxpayers, or the City or County’s general funds.”

“In many ways, we’re down to our last at-bat in Oakland. But if we get a win tomorrow, and an agreement we agree with, we can send it into extra innings and hopefully get the final victory in the fall,” said Kaval referring to the vote.

The Oakland Athletics are poised to be the next in a string of sports teams to leave the city, as on Wednesday they announced they will “explore other markets.” The likeliest home is the city of Las Vegas, as it attempts to vulture another California sports team. The other teams in the running to house the team include Portland, Vancouver, Nashville, Charlotte and Montreal, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

The aspect of Oakland that spurred the sudden change wasn’t the city or the fans, but instead the want for a new ballpark. The Athletics’ current home is the Oakland Coliseum, which has served as home for the ball club since the 1960s. A’s president Dave Kaval came out yesterday and said the Coliseum is “not a viable option for the future of the franchise,” a valid critique he’s been trying to address in recent years. Kaval has spearheaded the movement to potentially build a waterfront stadium in downtown Oakland, but the MLB recommended relocation instead.

While the A’s have expressed that remaining in Oakland and building a $12 billion mixed-use development is their priority, the standstill of the project prompted today’s move. The leading contender if the A’s do move: Las Vegas. Plenty of other cities would welcome the team, too.

“Today, Major League Baseball instructed the A’s to begin exploring other markets while we continue to pursue the Oakland waterfront ballpark project,” Kaval said in a statement. “This is not an easy directive for our fans to hear. …The time is here for a decision on our future, and it is unclear to us and MLB whether there is a path to success for the A’s in Oakland.”

As aforementioned, The Athletics are the only professional sports team left in Oakland. The Warriors and Raiders were the two other squads in town, until the Raiders moved to Las Vegas and the Warriors ventured into San Francisco.

Major League Baseball’s Opening Day is just around the corner! With that being said, it is time to make predictions for each team heading into the 2021 season following a campaign shortened by the pandemic in 2020.

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The Oakland Athletics have made the postseason in each of the last three years. Their last World Series appearance and win came in 1989. Since 2000, the team has made the postseason 11 times. In 2020, the A’s finished fifth in ERA across the league posting a 3.77 ERA, and finished 19th in home runs with 71 homers. Looking onto 2021, the Athletics should make the postseason once again.

Here are Oakland’s projected starters.

Oakland Athletics Projected Batting Order:

1. SS Elvis Andrus
2. OF Ramon Laureano
3. 3B Matt Chapman
4. 1B Matt Olson
5. OF Mark Canha
6. 1B Mitch Moreland
7. OF Stephen Piscotty
8. C Sean Murphy
9. 2B Tony Kemp

Oakland Athletics Projected Pitching Staff:

• SP1 Jesus Luzardo
• SP2 Sean Manaea
• SP3 Frankie Montas
• SP4 Chris Bassitt
• SP5 Mike Fiers
• CL Trevor Rosenthal

Oakland Athletics Team Outlook:

Over the course of the 2021 offseason, the Athletics made additions to improve their chances at a playoff berth. Oakland signed first baseman Mitch Moreland, closer Trevor Rosenthal and reliever Sergio Romo. In February, they acquired shortstop Elvis Andrus and catcher Aramis Garcia via trade with the Texas Rangers. In this trade, the A’s sent Khris Davis, Johan Heim, and Dane Acker to Texas.

Despite the team’s additions, they lost closer Liam Hendricks, shortstop Marcus Semien, outfielder Robbie Grossman, and starting pitcher Mike Minor during the offseason. With the free-agent additions, the Oakland Athletics have increased the likelihood of postseason success. Additionally, they will make a deep run if they push two of their up-and-coming pitchers to ace status.

Oakland Athletics Schedule:

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The abuse directed at the Houston Astros continues as tempers boiled over during Sunday’s game between the Astros and the Oakland A’s when A’s batter Ramon Laureano got hit by a pitch and took exception to it. Tempers got so high so fast that he ended up charging the Astros dugout which will certainly cause some suspensions for disregarding COVID-19 social-distancing protocols,

This is a pretty clear reaction less to the pitch or the words said and more to the Astros cheating scandal that was revealed the last offseason that they reportedly spied on pitching signs and banged on a trash can to signal to their batter what type of pitch was coming. The Astros have already been the target of anger this season when Dodgers relief pitcher Joe Kelly threw some “wild” pitches toward them which earned him an eight-game suspension.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIrk4JU34VY

This likely won’t be the end to the conflict with the Astros despite the fact that the MLB seems to be defending them more than most teams when they suspended Kelly for eight games, more than any Astros players were suspended. The Astros sins won’t be forgotten anytime soon, and it is unclear where tempers will flair next.