The Oakland Athletics suffered a major blow as lights-out closer Mason Miller was put on the 15-day injured list due to a broken left pinky. Skipper Mark Kotsay said Thursday that Miller suffered the injury when he “kind of pounded his fist down on a padded table out of emotion” after Monday’s game against the Astros.

“Unfortunately, it resulted in a fracture in his non-pitching hand in his left hand where his pinky is,” Kotsay said. “We’ve been there, done that.” Setup man Lucas Erceg is expected to slide into the closer role during Miller’s absence.

Miller is undisputably Oakland’s best pitcher as the 25-year-old closer owns a 2.21 ERA and fanned 70 batters in 40 2/3 innings pitched this season. Thanks to these stats, Miller’s name has popped up in trade rumors as the Yankees, Phillies, Dodgers and Orioles expressed interest at the beginning of 2024 – however, the injury has halted rumors as the A’s wanted a huge return for the righty pitcher. The A’s closer owns the record for the fastest pitch thrown in the MLB All-Star Game with a 103.6 mph fastball.

“I’m happy being with the guys I’m with and honored to be here representing them and excited to work with them in the second half,” Miller commented as he expressed his desire to be an Oakland Athletic. “At the end of the day, I don’t have a say in it at all. That portion of it is easy for me to dissociate with and say, I don’t have a dog in that fight and whatever will be, will be.”

Miller will have five years until he hits free agency following this season, leaving the A’s with some thinking on whether they want to keep the electric closer around or deal him when he’s healthy.

The Oakland Athletics finished the 2023 season last in the MLB with a 50-112 record. With the team’s poor performance as well as a lack of steady attendance from fans, the A’s management has seriously looked at relocating the team. The prime choice destination is Las Vegas, and the team has had their eyes on the city for the past few years. Much work has gone into the process of relocating the team, but a recent pushback from the Nevada State Educational Association might block the $380 million of public funds already awarded to the team.

NSEA represents educators and teachers around the state, and their goal is to stop the relocation of the baseball team to secure those funds for public use. Along with NSEA, it has been the Schools Over Stadiums political group that has been leading the fight against the A’s arrival in Las Vegas. There is also a large number of locals in the area who  do not support a new team coming into town.

“When we finally kill the Tropicana stadium deal, it will be a combination of these Oakland A’s fans, our efforts at Schools Over Stadiums and Strong Public Schools, and John Fisher‘s ineptitude,” NSEA deputy executive director of government relations Chris Daly said.

The “Tropicana stadium deal” refers to the proposed stadium that the Athletics would use in Vegas if their move were to go through. The name comes from the fact that the land used for the stadium would be what is currently the Tropicana Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip, in close location to Allegiant Stadium and T-Mobile Arena.

For owner Fisher, a stadium for the A’s to play in is of utmost priority. The team’s lease on the Oakland Colosseum ends in 2024, and the team has yet to find a space for the coming years. Even if a move to Vegas was made soon, the new stadium in Nevada isn’t expected to be completed until 2028.

That leaves a three-season window without a stadium for the Athletics, something they will have to find a solution to soon. The three most realistic options for the team would either be to stay in Oakland and renegotiate a deal with the stadium, or relocate to Sacramento or Salt Lake City from 2025-27. Both Sacramento and Salt Lake City have baseball stadiums with a capacity for 14,000 fans, but the A’s would have to work alongside minor league teams to make the scheduling work.

With the Athletic’s lack of popularity in Oakland as well as the growing sports culture in Las Vegas, the NSEA’s pushback still might not be enough to stop the team from relocating. The A’s have been playing in the Oakland Colosseum since 1968, having to share it with the Oakland Raiders for 26 of those years. Their stadium in the Bay Area is one of the oldest and most outdated in the MLB, but with a seared relationship between the team and stadium ownership, a new deal for the team to stay will most likely not go through.

With the start of the 2024 season approaching, pressure for a set-in-stone plan will only grow for Fisher and the team. And even if the move to Las Vegas does eventually happen, it will be met with extreme pushback by the NSEA and Vegas locals.

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred will step down from his position in 2029 when his current term ends. Voted in by owners to replace Bud Selig in 2015, Manfred has overseen several radical changes in baseball in recent years.

“You can only have so much fun in one lifetime,” Manfred said. “I have been open with them (the owners) about the fact that this is going to be my last term.”

Though 2029 still seems very far away and Manfred will likely do more to impact the sport in the meantime, the commissioner has already done more than enough to draw both praise and ire from fans.

In 2018, Manfred began MLB’s long and arduous investigation into the Houston Astros’ sign-stealing scandal. By the time he issued a verdict and punishment, sometimes considered too light by especially angry critics, the Covid-19 pandemic derailed the 2020 season and forced the commissioner to quickly readjust.

Because baseball is played outdoors or in wide-open spaces, MLB was more impacted by the timing of the pandemic than anything. Still, the league had to host games without fans in a shortened 2020 season often deemed less legitimate than those with the typical 162-game schedule.

After an entire season of baseball was indelibly marked by a public health crisis, Manfred oversaw radical changes to cut down on ballooning game times, pitching substances and general apathy for the sport. MLB implemented a pitch clock, routine pitcher inspections and smaller changes like larger bases, accordingly.

Manfred was voted in by the owners and has often been loyal to them, much to the chagrin of some fans. Oakland Athletics supporters have often redirected their rage from owner John Fisher to the MLB commissioner, who once seemed to mock the fans’ reverse boycott campaign in 2023.

The position of MLB commissioner is always a divisive one, and Manfred has handled some situations deftly and some in ways that he has admitted he would like to do over. Either way, he will be remembered as the league’s leader through a number of triumphs and crises, some of which may still come in his time remaining.

The Oakland Athletics are currently poised to move from the Bay Area to the desert. One surprising voice is coming out against the proposition.

Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman voiced her opposition to the Athletics’ current plan to relocate to her city, in a Front Office Sports interview released this week.

Goodman criticized the logistics of the specific move to the area of the now-defunct Tropicana Las Vegas Hotel, which would transform into a new baseball park for the Athletics. She also showed support for longtime fans of the Athletics, suggesting that the team’s ownership should “listen to the people that are up there [in Oakland]. It’s their team.”

After the interview was published, Goodman clarified her opinions on the Athletics’ impending move to Las Vegas in a post to X on Tuesday afternoon.

In the opening sentence of the statement, the mayor wrote, “I want to be clear that I am excited about the prospect of Major League Baseball in Las Vegas, and it very well may be that the Las Vegas A’s will become a reality that we will welcome to our city.”

Goodman emphasized that while she supported the local fan base in Oakland, if the Athletics were to ultimately relocate, she would be welcoming to that, describing Las Vegas as a “spectacular market for major league sports franchises.”

The Athletics are coming off a dismal season in 2023, finishing 50-112 and with the worst record in the MLB. The team was supposed to finalize its plans of where the team will play in 2025 and beyond due to the Oakland Coliseum’s expiring lease with the team approaching. However, an ESPN report released on January 30 detailed that the A’s failed to reach an agreement on the team’s stadium future, and the situation remains in limbo. There is still a chance the Athletics remain in Oakland until the projected relocation to Las Vegas in 2028.

A’s fans have promised to boycott ticket sales until a new owner is found for the team. The team has responded by offering a BOGO (Buy One, Get One) ticket deal.

The Oakland Athletics are now offering “Buy One Get One” deals for 2024 Opening Day tickets as diehard fans continue to revolt against owner John Fisher. But sentiment on social media remains overwhelmingly negative, with many rallying behind a movement to boycott the team’s first game in late March.

The Athletics’ attempts to quickly relocate from Oakland to Las Vegas have gone sideways, leaving them stuck between a hostile Bay Area fanbase and a new home that can not yet host them. MLB owners voted unanimously to approve the team’s move, but its multi-billion dollar stadium will not be ready until at least 2027.

Beyond his fellow owners, Fisher’s quest to relocate has been so maligned that Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman said that the Athletics should find a way to stay in Oakland and reunite its existing fanbase.

“I personally think they’ve gotta figure out a way to stay in Oakland and make their dream come true,” Goodman said on the Front Office Sports Today podcast released Tuesday. “I just know that [Fisher] — longtime successful family — in my opinion, needs to listen to the people that are up there. It’s their team.”

Goodman clarified her comments later in a statement, reaffirming that Las Vegas could provide an excellent market for a prospective MLB team. But her candid initial comment sends a clear message that Fisher has lost the battle for public opinion. Still, he perseveres.

In response to Fisher’s stubborn march to Vegas, A’s fans in Oakland have attacked him viciously in the form of online criticism and public demonstrations. Last season, the team held a reverse boycott after Fisher and other MLB officials cited the fanbase’s lack of enthusiasm as a reason to move. In response, nearly 28,000 fans packed into the Oakland Coliseum, often considered the least accommodating stadium in baseball, on a weekday night to watch their team upset the Rays in a 2-1 thriller.

This year’s boycott could be the exact opposite, an attempt to embarrass Fisher and A’s ownership with empty stands on Opening Day. If it succeeds, the message would be clear: the A’s will not be welcome back in Oakland until Fisher sells the team. If anything, the team’s decision to offer two tickets for the price of one is a clear sign of early panic.

Though it’s clear that a vocal group of fans want the A’s to stay in Oakland, that reality becomes less likely by the day. A’s ownership has reportedly not been in contact with the city government in nearly a year, and Mayor Sheng Thao has said that there would be strings attached if the team wanted to arrange a short-term deal to stay at the Oakland Coliseum. The current deal ends at the end of the 2024 season.

The Baltimore Orioles acquired rookie pitcher Shintaro Fujinami Wednesday in a deal with the Oakland Athletics. Oakland received minor league pitching prospect Easton Lucas in return. The trade was one of the first significant deals to be made ahead of the August 1 deadline.

Fujinami has been used in unorthodox ways in his first season with the Athletics, beginning his MLB career as a starter before moving to the bullpen. He also played several games as an opener or pitcher who starts but only appears for one or two innings.

In 34 appearances and 49.1 innings this season, Fujinami has compiled a 5-8 record with an 8.73 ERA. The poor results are partially to blame on a shaky start to the season, as well as the Athletics’ horrendous performance overall in 2023, but Fujinami has settled into his role as a reliever well in recent months.

Baltimore will acquire the 28-year-old upstart at an opportune time, as the team just took first place in the AL East and seem poised to make a serious playoff push. Far removed from the doldrums of the American League, the Orioles are now a young, dangerous organization in MLB’s most competitive division. Fujinami, who boasts triple-digit fastball velocity despite struggles with control, could prove to be an asset for the team as it looks to maintain momentum in the second half of the season.

It will be interesting to see Fujinami adjust from playing for the Athletics, a bottom-feeder on the West Coast, to the Orioles, a bonafide playoff contender, in the span of a few days. The Japanese rookie has already learned a lot in his short time in the league and there may be even more for him to grow accustomed to in the coming months.

The Athletics, meanwhile, likely decided to part with Fujinami because he was a luxury they couldn’t afford. Though the team has essentially been eliminated from playoff contention since May (or even April), the team must now assume a forward-looking vision as it looks to build a more formidable roster ahead of an impending move to Las Vegas. Lucas, a 26-year-old lefthander with a 2.93 ERA in the minors this season, could be of use to the team at some point in the future.

Domingo German threw the 24th perfect game in MLB history Wednesday night, retiring 27 straight Oakland Athletics batters in an 11-0 victory for the New York Yankees. But as German made history and earned glowing coverage from media outlets across the country, many baseball fans on social media struggled to celebrate the achievement.

Though Yankees fans who stayed up to watch the West Coast game were overjoyed with the result, the nationwide reaction to German’s perfect game was mixed, though it was the first of its kind since 2012. The source of this lukewarm reception from some was twofold, for the most part.

The response in the context of MLB competition was fairly straightforward. The Oakland Athletics have been adopted by many as a darling pick for the season as fans in the city fight desperately to keep their team while owner John Fisher continues his march to Las Vegas. The team is on pace to have the worst record in franchise history and is arguably one of the worst teams of the modern era. To some, German’s perfect game felt like adding insult to injury.

A more nuanced response came as a result of events off the field. On one hand, several outlets reported that German dedicated his performance to his uncle, who passed away several days before the game. Even this news, however, was met with a seemingly constant stream of serious complaints and distasteful jokes about German’s 2019 domestic abuse scandal.

In September that year, German slapped his girlfriend at an event with several of his Yankees teammates and their partners present. Later on in the night, German abused her again while intoxicated at their home until she escaped to a locked room. She called the wife of one of German’s teammates, and the pair arrived at the scene to calm German down and tend to her. Though no one ever contacted law enforcement, someone did report the incident to MLB, which suspended German for 81 games in January 2020.

While the history of German’s achievement Wednesday was self-evident, it was inextricably tied to memories of his abuse for many fans, who were either candidly or facetiously vocal on social media in expressing that it soured positive feelings for the perfect game.

Very little of this appeared anywhere near mainstream coverage of the event. In a recurring gap between sports media and the world around it, breaking news writers and broadcast analysts failed to capture the feelings of the audience they were serving. In stark contrast to the blandly triumphant headlines and post-game coverage, the immediate public response to German’s perfect game assumed a wildly varied, often critical tone.

Fans rooting for the winning team had an easier time of it. Fans rooting for the losers sank to new depths. Some found a way to root for the achievement itself. Some couldn’t bring themselves to root for the man. Reactions are individual and can rarely be summarized concisely, but one thing was clear. This perfect game meant more to people than 27 consecutive outs.

It was all going so well for Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher in April. His team was terrible, local government officials in Oakland were giving up on negotiations and progress on a new stadium in Las Vegas had never been smoother. He was always the antagonist to most — an ambitious owner slashing costs and tanking for greener pastures. But at least his plan was working.

On June 6, the A’s bounced back from a five-game losing streak to soundly defeat the Pittsburgh Pirates 11-2. They took the series the next day to begin their third winning streak of the season. Yes, you read that correctly. It was the third time all season that Oakland had won two games in a row.

The following day, the Nevada State Senate adjourned without voting on the Athletics’ proposal to build a new stadium in Las Vegas. Even if the bill did pass on June 8, it only allocates $380 million worth of public funding for the new stadium, projected to cost $1.5 billion.

It’s a headache either way for Fisher, who dreamt of being welcomed by Nevada citizens (and taxpayers) with welcome arms, only to have to come up with more than $1 billion elsewhere or lose his chance to move. But the players weren’t concerned about any of that. They were on a bus to Wisconsin.

After taking two out of three from the highly touted Pirates, the Athletics traveled to Milwaukee and swept the Brewers, the other top team in the NL Central. Oakland had a five-game winning streak against legitimate competition and improved to 17-50 on the year. In the team’s return to the Oakland Coliseum, the 48-20 Rays awaited, along with the most highly anticipated event of the MLB season.

At most home games this season, protests about the team’s prospective departure from Oakland have been enthusiastic but relatively muted by paltry attendance numbers. Despite having the largest stadium in MLB, the Athletics rank dead last in attendance and have for several years, earning less than 10,000 fans per game since 2021. It was one of the justifications for Fisher to move in the first place. The reverse boycott was a direct response to that misplaced blame.

In an effort to demonstrate that ownership, not the fans, had abandoned baseball in Oakland, fans decided several months ago to schedule a reverse boycott on Tuesday, June 13. They chose to try and sell out the arena in an attempt to show Fisher that his decisions, from profit-motivated payroll cuts to ticket gouging and a general lack of effort in recent years, had driven away a diehard fanbase. As if in response to the fans’ vitriol, the Athletics defeated the Rays in the first game of their series to carry a six-game winning streak into Tuesday night.

Some labeled it a total farce beforehand, but no one could question the reverse boycott’s effectiveness as it was happening. More than 27,000 fans were raucous for nine straight innings, throwing garbage on the field and imploring Fisher to sell the team. A’s players responded to the energy again. Hogan Harris, who has a 4.84 ERA in 2023, threw seven innings of one-run ball against the best team in the league and carried Oakland into the eighth inning.

In the bottom of the 8th, the 18-50 Athletics took a lead against Tampa Bay in the most heroic fashion possible: a soft ground ball to third base off the bat of pinch hitter Carlos Perez. The crowd exploded and barely had time to recover before closer Trevor May struck out Jose Siri to end the game and extend Oakland’s winning streak to seven.

It was hard not to see a future for Oakland baseball after that game, even as that future diminishes with each passing day. The Athletics lost to the Rays the following day in front of 7,055 fans. They lost again Thursday to split the series and begin their 11th losing streak of the season.

On Tuesday night, the same night as the reverse boycott, the Nevada State Senate finally passed the bill for the new stadium proposal. The State Assembly passed it the following day. It is virtually ensured now that Fisher will get what he wants. It’s a heartbreaking epilogue to a hopelessly romantic tale, one in which the unstoppable gears of bureaucracy and profit-based decision-making slowed just enough to allow the Athletics players and their fans to take center stage in their own story, if only for a week.

What a week it was, though.

Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen struck a bird with a warmup pitch before the team’s game against the Oakland Athletics Wednesday. Gallen was in the outfield when the bird flew into the path of a curveball, which reportedly killed the animal.

“I don’t really know what happened, honestly,” Gallen said. “I just know that the ball changed directions really. I saw what happened. It’s kind of a freak accident. It’s unfortunate.”

Many publications have compared Gallen’s incident to one that occurred in 2001 involving Randy Johnson. The Diamondbacks legend is notorious for striking a dove during a spring training game, seemingly vaporizing the animal on camera with a fastball. Johnson was similarly solemn about the accident.

“I didn’t think it was all that funny,” Johnson said at the time.

Though Gallen has drawn many comparisons to Johnson because of their shared roles as Diamondbacks pitchers, this is far from the first time birds have been caught in the crossfires of play. Yankees Dave Winfield killed a seagull with a warmup throw in 1983 and was charged by Ontario police with animal cruelty. The charge was later dropped.

Gallen didn’t end up pitching in the game, which Arizona won 5-3 to sweep the Oakland. The Athletics. who have struggled with an opossum in one of their announcers’ booths this season, have also struggled mightily on the field. The team has begun the season with a 10-35 record and is on track to have the worst season in franchise history.

The Diamondbacks have exceeded expectations, meanwhile, compiling a 25-19 record. They are just three games behind the Dodgers in the NL West. Beyond his unfortunate incident in Oakland, Gallen has been excellent on the mound for Arizona, earning a 6-1 record, 2.35 ERA and 70 strikeouts in nine starts.

The Diamondbacks will next travel to Pittsburgh to face the Pirates, who have gone somewhat cold after a hot start to the season. Gallen is scheduled to start and will look to avoid local wildlife if possible.

Oakland Athletics Team President Dave Kaval announced Wednesday night that the team had purchased land on the Las Vegas strip to build a new stadium. The team was long rumored to be negotiating with the cities of Oakland and Las Vegas for a new park and seem to have settled on terms with the latter.

The land, 49 acres owned by Red Rock Resorts will reportedly be used to construct a new $1.5 billion stadium that will seat 35,000 fans. The Athletics have played in the Oakland Coliseum with minimal renovations since 1968.

“For a while we were on parallel paths [with Oakland], but we have turned our attention to Las Vegas to get a deal here for the A’s and find a long-term home,” Kaval told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “Oakland has been a great home for us for over 50 years, but we really need this 20-year saga completed and we feel there’s a path here in Southern Nevada to do that.”

If the Athletics leave Oakland, a proposition which seems increasingly certain, they will follow the NFL’s Raiders in an exodus to Las Vegas, which offers a larger market and more revenue. Early in the 2023 season, the A’s trail all other MLB teams in fan attendance and are on track to have one of the worst seasons in franchise history with a 3-16 record through 19 games.

Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao criticized the team’s decision to move forward with its move to Las Vegas, claiming that the team used the city as a bargaining chip to ensure a better deal elsewhere.

“I am deeply disappointed that the A’s have chosen not to negotiate with the City of Oakland as a true partner, in a way that respects the long relationship between the fans, the City and the team,” Thao said in a statement. “Yet, it is clear to me that the A’s have no intention of staying in Oakland and have simply been using this process to try to extract a better deal out of Las Vegas. I am not interested in continuing to play that game – the fans and our residents deserve better.”

To protest the move, A’s fans in Oakland plan to stage a reverse boycott in June in an attempt to convince the team to stay. On average, the team has enjoyed a home crowd of just 11,000 fans while 22 of 30 MLB teams have received at least 20,000.

They’re not going to go 162-0. While the Tampa Bay Rays, still undefeated after 12 games in 2023, are indisputably the hottest team in baseball, their recent string of success seems to be just as circumstantial as it is earned. It’s only a matter of time before the highly competitive AL East division tightens once more and the current division leaders have to contend for a playoff spot against more worthy competitors.

To argue that the Rays’ historic season-starting winning streak, just one game away from the all-time record as of April 13, is due in part to good fortune is not to discredit the team in any way. Through 12 games, the likes of Wander Franco, Randy Arozarena and Shane McClanahan have been immensely impressive, confirming the team’s seemingly perennial status as a World Series contender despite a shoestring budget.

But Tampa Bay’s domination over the American League has come against — by far — the worst opposition any team in MLB has had to face thus far. The Rays rank dead last in strength of schedule for games played by a wide margin. If they were viewed individually, series sweeps against the Tigers, Nationals and Athletics meant little more than taking care of business for Tampa Bay.

Taking the first two in a series against the Red Sox, arguably the worst team in the AL East, is similarly typical. Nine of these 12 wins came in home games as well. Together, they form a formidable winning streak, but none of these would have been statement wins under normal circumstances.

Forming any sort of streak in baseball is difficult, and the Rays deserve credit for forming a team more than capable of handling less competitive organizations. But the excitement surrounding the team, which includes sky-rocketing power rankings assessments and extremely early championship buzz, does not necessarily feel earned. They have not yet defeated a team that made the playoffs last year.

The value in a baseball season is that its grueling 162-game schedule has a way of ferreting out pretenders. These tried and tested regular season champions aren’t always rewarded in the playoffs, but they usually deserve to be there. The Rays could very well belong in the postseason this year, but they haven’t proven that yet. No one has, and beating the Athletics in April can only mean so much to that end.

New York Yankees starting pitcher Frankie Montas will miss at least the first half of the 2023 season as he recovers from surgery to his right shoulder. The operation Wednesday was successful, and he will begin throwing again in May.

“Everything went according to plan,” manager Aaron Boone told NBC Sports. “We’re day one out of surgery, so we have a long way to go from there. We’re hopeful at some point he can get back but I don’t want to best case, worst case.”

Last season, Montas had a number of minor setbacks as a member of both the Athletics and Yankees, as various arm issues forced him to miss multiple starts. In January, he first reported inflammation in his shoulder and subsequent tests confirmed that he would require arthroscopic surgery.

Though Montas’ timetable for recovery is still unclear, if the pitcher begins throwing in 12 weeks as planned, he could be available to appear on the mound over the summer. In eight games for New York last season, Montas compiled a 1-3 record and 6.35 ERA. Before he was traded, he earned a 4-9 record with a 3.18 ERA in 19 starts for Oakland. He is signed to the Yankees through the 2023 season and will enter free agency in 2024.

Montas was signed by the Red Sox in 2009 and traded to the White Sox in 2013, but the pitcher did not become a consistent major league starter until 2018, when he played his first full season for the Athletics. He quickly became a reliable arm for Oakland, even as the team struggled.

In addition to Montas’ surgery, the Yankees are also overseeing the recoveries of pitcher Nestor Cortes and minor-league catcher Ben Rortvedt. Rortvedt underwent surgery on Wednesday as well to treat an aneurysm in a shoulder artery, which had been causing circulation issues in his hand. Cortes is further along in his recovery from a right hamstring injury and has thrown off the mound twice in recent weeks.

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said Wednesday that Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher is focusing on moving the team to Las Vegas instead of securing another stadium in California. As one of the smallest markets in baseball, the Athletics have struggled to raise funds in recent years and could follow the Raiders in a potential relocation.

“Look, I think the best way for me to answer that is to say I think that the focus since I spoke to you in December really has been on Las Vegas,” Manfred told the San Francisco Chronicle. “The city (Oakland) has been really caught up in trying to work their way through these funding issues that I’m sure you’ve read about. But I’ve talked to John Fisher on a regular basis both about what’s going on in Oakland and about what’s going on in Las Vegas.”

Negotiations between the city of Oakland and the Athletics have appeared strained for some time now, as poor attendance and a meager fundraising effort have stalled conversations about a new stadium. The city also lost a $180 million grant from the Department of Transportation that would have gone toward improving infrastructure and loosened the budget for the A’s.

Similarly, unsuccessful talks in 2019 between the city and the Raiders led the NFL team to move to Las Vegas, and it seems that the Athletics could take similar action.

Since 1968, the Athletics have played at the Oakland Coliseum, which has only received two renovations in its 54-year existence. It is generally agreed that the team needs a new stadium, and for some time, the team was splitting its efforts between working with the city of Oakland and considering options in Las Vegas. It now appears that the organization is favoring the latter option.

In the 2022 season, the Athletics had the worst average attendance numbers in the league, with just 9,973 fans attending a typical home game at the Coliseum, which can seat nearly 60,000 at capacity.

The Oakland Athletics have stumbled a bit out of the gate in 2022 to a 15-22* record and last place in the AL West.

Catcher Sean Murphy leads the team with four home runs and 18 RBI, while left fielder Seth Brown and third baseman Chad Pinder each have three homers. Infielder Sheldon Nurse leads Oakland with a .281 batting average, .346 OBP, and 34 doubles.

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Frankie Montas, Paul Blackburn, Daulton Jefferies, and Cole Irvin have been manning the rotation, while Dany Jimenez leads the bullpen in saves (6).

Oakland will close out its first half with three in Texas and three in Houston, then open the second half with two at home against Detroit. The 2022 campaign concludes with three at home against the Angels.

*All numbers accurate as of games completed on 5/15

Coveted (now former) Oakland Athletics first baseman Matt Olson grew up in the Atlanta area, so you would think a trade to the Braves would be exciting for him. Well, when news came down Monday that he’s going there in exchange for outfielder Cristian Pache, catcher Shea Langeliers, and pitchers Ryan Cusick and Joey Estes, he called it “bittersweet.”

“I can’t say enough to the A’s organization and what they’ve done for me,” Olson said. “I’ve been here since 2012 so almost 10 years, my whole baseball career. It’s bittersweet leaving.

“I know Atlanta is an amazing place, World Series champs, my hometown, so if there was one place to go and leave here, that’s the place to do it. I’m excited about it. There’s a lot of good friendships here that I’m saying bye to, like I said it’s bittersweet but I’m excited about what’s to come.”

The 27-year-old was born in Atlanta and grew up about 20 miles north in Lilburn. He’s a two-time Gold Glove winner with a .252 average and .859 OPS with 142 homers over six seasons; last season he notched 39 dingers and 111 RBI.

“It is hard to overstate his impact on the organization,” said A’s GM David Forst. “This is the reality of our situation and why it’s imperative we get a new ballpark. Matt Olson is a great player and he will be missed by fans, everyone in the clubhouse, and those of us that had to deliver the news today.”

On the heels of a trade that sent him from the Oakland A’s to his hometown Atlanta Braves, Matt Olson has signed an eight-year, $168 million contract with his new club.

Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos phoned his new first baseman Monday after the acquisition and broke the news; a day later the deal was done.

To quote the nine-figure 27-year-old, it was a “whirlwind.” He added, “The stars kind of aligned perfectly.”

The deal runs through 2029 and comes with a $20 million team option for 2030 sans buyout.

The move clearly closes the Freddie Freeman chapter in Atlanta—a chapter that began with 24 at-bats in 2010 and culminated with the team’s World Series title last fall. Throughout, he totaled a .295/.384/.509/.893 line with 271 home runs and 941 RBI for a 138 OPS+ over 6,660 plate appearances (5,767 at-bats).

Olson’s pact is the largest in team history, surpassing… you guessed it: Freeman’s $135 million deal signed prior to the 2014 campaign.

He’ll make $15 million in 2022, $21 million in 2023, and then $22 million per for the rest of the contract.

“Obviously, I know Atlanta,” Olson said after the trade and before the deal. “It’s an amazing place, World Series champs, my hometown. If there was one place to go and leave here, that’s the place to do it. I’m excited about it.”

It was the first $100 million deal doled out since MLB’s lockout ended.

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 Arizona Diamondbacks are having a historic season – historically bad, that is.

The franchise currently sits at a season record of 20-50, but 23 of those 50 losses have come on the road; the inability to win a game as the visitor this many consecutive times places them first with the longest losing streak of this type. They overtake the 1943 Athletics and 1963 Mets with the most consecutive road losses in MLB history.

The Diamondbacks are an abysmal 9-31 when playing away from home. Their losing streak dates back to May 4, which was a loss against the Miami Marlins. They have a six-game homestand for now before playing another away matchup that could snap their losing streak.

If they can turn around their losing ways on the road the next time they suit up as the visitors, their record might be quickly broken by the Baltimore Orioles, who have now lost 19 straight away from home.

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.

Houston Astros star Zack Greinke silenced the Oakland Athletics’ crowd on Thursday night. Greinke pitched six shutout innings and struck out four batters in an Astros 8-1 win. Michael Brantley and Alex Bregman added to Houston’s scoring with back-to-back home runs in the eighth inning.

However, A’s fans jeered the Astros with boos during the pregame introductions. In addition, fans held up signs with trashcans on them and chanted “cheaters” at the Astros. A’s fans gave a loud cheer when Houston’s Carlos Correa was hit by A’s starter Chris Bassitt‘s fastball in the fourth inning.

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The jeering from the crowd was not enough to affect an Astros squad that steamrolled the A’s. Aided by a pair of home runs by Bregman and Brantley, the Astros absolutely dominated Oakland. The other big offensive contributions came from designated hitter Yordan Alvarez, who hit an RBI double and a sacrifice fly, finishing the game with 3 RBI.

“Got to hear some boos, finally. That wasn’t fun to listen to, I didn’t think, but we played good so it didn’t matter,” Greinke said. “Hopefully we’ll keep playing good and it won’t be as big of an issue.”

“That’s fine, this is a veteran team,” Brantley said. “We’ve been in the World Series, we’ve been in the playoffs.” The hitter continued, “They can boo, they can yell, they can do whatever they want. But at the end of the day we have each other’s backs, and that’s all that matters,” Brantley said.

The jeers are not limited to the Athletics. Every other team across Major League Baseball will want to instigate the Astros. This stems from the Houston’s infamous cheating scandal that occurred in the 2017 and 2018 seasons. A league investigation found that Houston used a camera to illegally spy and steal the opposing team’s pitching signals. The team would then relay it to hitters by banging on trash cans. The cheating helped the Astros win the World Series in 2017.

After the investigation, the league suspended Astros manager A.J. Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow for one year, and they were subsequently fired by Houston. The organization was fined $5 million and forfeited first- and second-round draft picks in 2020 and 2021.

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