If the Oakland A's want a new San Jose ballpark, a battle with the San Francisco Giants ownership may be fiercer than anticipated, as Bill Neukom and crew dig in their heels in opposition.
If the Oakland A's want a new San Jose ballpark, a battle with the San Francisco Giants ownership may be fiercer than anticipated, as Bill Neukom and crew dig in their heels in opposition.
That's the rumbling we're hearing among front-office types across baseball. Neukom and other Giants employees have been dead-set against a proposal for a new ballpark next to San Jose's downtown Diridon Train Station and HP Pavilion. San Jose is an important part of the Giants' territory — it's actually the largest city in the Bay Area and has the sort of upscale demographics marketers crave — and while everyone in baseball assumed some sort of deal could be worked out with the Giants, it's clear the Giants won't make it easy for anyone. San Jose may be 48 miles from downtown San Francisco, but it really is one market on many levels. Still, a move to San Jose would save the A's franchise, currently mired in Oakland.
But losing San Jose would hurt the Giants franchise. No doubt about it.
Which puts Commissioner Bud Selig in a corner. True, MLB owners could vote to take the territory away from the Giants on a three-quarters vote, but no one thinks it will get to that point: Selig craves consensus. His task is simple. First, he's got to persuade Bill Neukom that it's in the best interest of baseball (and the Giants) to save the Athletics franchise. Second, he's got to figure out exactly how much the loss of San Jose is for the franchise. Sure, you can tally up sponsorship and season-ticket revenue and assume it all will be lost; there won't be a lot of offset should Oakland's territory be awarded to the Giants. (Neukom should also assume he'll lose some business either way: folks in the Bay Area won't be very happy with the Giants should they lose a shot at the A's, and that needs to be factored in by Neukom and crew.) Then that tally of lost business will need to be considerably sweetened by A's owner Lew Wolff.
It will not be easy. The MLB owners club is a lot like the U.S. Senate: One recalcitrant owner can really gum up the works under Selig's management style. We're not saying a new A's San Jose ballpark will be impossible — but it will be more difficult to accomplish than many anticipated.
RELATED STORIES: San Jose to put off ballpark referendum until 2010; San Jose ballpark committee meets for first time; San Jose to discuss blueprints for A's ballpark negotiations; Various San Jose groups begin task of landing A's; Selig forms committee to study Oakland ballpark situation; Wolff to Oakland: Drop dead!; Oakland forming new committee to pursue new A's ballpark; San Jose mayor: We have better than 50-50 shot at landing the A's; San Jose city committee wants to see poll of residents before moving forward on A's; Could Oakland Coliseum work as baseball-only venue?; Wolff: Goal is team in "Northern California"; A's officially drop Fremont ballpark plans; Wolff says there's no backup plan; A's suspend Fremont plans; will reevaluate future home for club; A's: No new ballpark until 2014; Wolff: A's still committed to Fremont ballpark; A's cancel community meetings as opposition to new ballpark plan accelerates; New A's ballpark opposed by hundreds of protesters; Oakland admits original plans for Cisco Field are all but dead
Subscribers to the weekly Ballpark Digest newsletter see articles before they're posted to the site. You can sign up for a free subscription at the Newsletter Signup Page.
Join Ballpark Digest on Facebook and on Twitter!