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The Oakland A’s are gearing up for a move to Sin City, recently posting about the next step in their venture on social media. The team revealed renderings of what their stadium in Las Vegas might look like.
Outfielder Brent Rooker was caught in the crosshairs of criticism of those hypothetic images, through no fault of his own. It led to a hilarious online interaction as he took the strays in stride.
It’s not news to see the organization moving forward with its future as a move out of Oakland has been on the table for some time. Despite fan blowback, the transition seems to be inevitable.
To try and produce a bit of online hype about that next step, the A’s released renderings of a potential Las Vegas stadium design. The dismay of fans opposing the move was apparently loud enough for the social media team to turn the replies off on that post.
Together with @BIG_Architects and @HNTBCorp, we have unveiled the design for our new ballpark project in Las Vegas on the Tropicana site. BIG will serve as the design lead and HNTB as the sports/hospitality designer and architect of record.
Images by Negativ pic.twitter.com/mvpiCBXD54
— Oakland A’s (@Athletics) March 5, 2024
The funniest critique had nothing to do with the venue at all, though.
Instead, it took aim at the roster – more specifically, Brent Rooker.
Rooker, entering his second season with the franchise, caught a brutal stray as social media accounts ripped his production at the plate.
In an attempt to make the stadium renderings as realistic as possible, the artists created a visual to show where the scoreboard would be located, with a hypothetical lineup graphic posted inside.
Instead of creating a realistic gameday setting, many believed this detail did the opposite.
This render is completely unrealistic. I like Brent Rooker, but there’s no way he profiles as a .303 hitter. https://t.co/ci4DGm2VOr pic.twitter.com/0FA3VN1u3C
— Foolish Baseball (@FoolishBB) March 5, 2024
The image showed Rooker hitting fourth in the order with a .303 batting average. While he did belt 30 home runs for Oakland last season, his career output falls well short of that mark at .230.
That includes a .246 average last year.
Rooker laughed the criticisms off with a reply on his X feed.
“Just out here trying to enjoy my off day but instead I am catching strays based on an artist’s drawing of my hypothetical batting average several years down the road.”
The perfect response.
Rooker and the A’s are in the midst of spring training as they gear up for the 2024 campaign. We’ll see if he can inch closer to that .303 average and prove his doubters wrong.