The Oakland Athletics plan to play the 2024 season at Oakland Coliseum, the final year of its lease. They plan to open their new stadium in Las Vegas for the 2028 season.
That leaves the A’s three seasons in need of a home, and the team won’t make that decision on its own. Major League Baseball works with the A’s, but the players’ union must approve temporary plans that include one or more temporary homes.
The union has no say in A’s move, but the league must negotiate the results of the move – working conditions – with the union.
“We’re going to have the logistics and results front and center,” executive director Tony Clark said Saturday.
The A’s said they could share the minor league stadium in Las Vegas with the Triple-A team currently there. You can play some games in minor league stadiums – in Reno, Sacramento or somewhere else. Oakland could ask for a lease extension, or the San Francisco Giants could ask for permission to share the ballpark.
MLB owners must first approve the trip to Las Vegas. At that point, Clark said, the union will be involved in discussions, especially if minor league ballparks are part of the temporary home plan.
Read more: It’s going, it’s going, it’s all gone from Oakland to support Las Vegas Stadium Passes
“We were discussing the field,” he said. “We would talk about the situation and the travel. We would talk about the services and housing and support for the players and their families in and around the ballpark.
The president of the minor league team in Las Vegas said it may need to replace the turf with artificial turf to accommodate the nearly daily use by the Triple-A team and the A team. The minor league stadium has no roof, and the current 10-day forecast for Las Vegas shows a high of 106 to 115 degrees.
“We have to make sure that the quality of that turf, if that, or the quality of the grass and the support for it, if that, is dark,” Clark said.
“You’re talking about game conditions. We will be a part of that conversation in one way or another to make sure that the quality of play and the level of familiarity of the players and the safety that players are expected to play on any field is respected.
Clark said the union would be involved again if the A’s choose to play in multiple temporary homes — a point the MLBPA said in a recent study on whether the Rays could become a bi-city team that splits games in Montreal and at home. Tampa Bay Area.
Read more: Comment: Nevada dice rolled on A. A kindergarten teacher lost faith in the government
Clark was a player in 2003 and 2004 when the Expos split home games between Montreal and San Juan, Puerto Rico the last two years. This includes, in part, ensuring accommodation options for players and their families in two home cities.
“Because of some of the conversations over the last couple of years about Tampa, we revisited it to make sure there’s an appreciation for all the moving parts and what parts,” he said. A conversation we need to have on the table.”
Subscribe to the LA Times SoCal high school sports newsletter for scores, stories and behind-the-scenes coverage of what makes prep sports so popular.
This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
[ad_2]