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After 55 seasons in Oakland, the Oakland A’s are moving on. The team is leaving Oakland for Sacramento, and eventually, Las Vegas, as owner John Fisher couldn’t come to an agreement to keep the team to Oakland, leaving loyal fans without a baseball club.
The move by Fisher, a notoriously cheap owner that repeatedly traded away the team’s best and most recognizable players, has been widely panned. On Thursday, after the A’s won their final home game, 3-2, over the Rangers, ESPN MLB insider Jeff Passan took a shot at John Fisher.
It’s not as if the Oakland A’s haven’t been successful in Oakland. The team won four World Series, 6 American League Pennants, 17 AL West Division Championships, and 4 Wild Card berths. In the last 25 years, they’ve made the playoffs an impressive `11 times, including three staight appearances from 2018-2020.
The team has fallen on hard times since, largely due to lack of investment by John Fisher. The A’s had the lowest payroll in the league this year, but still managed to be competitive. They’re 69-90, which is much better than a lot of people thought they would be.
Sadly, that has nothing to do with the fact that the team is leaving. A Vegas ballpark is theoretically going to be ready in a few years, and they will play at Sutter Health Park, home of the Sacramento River Cats until then.
This is purely a money move. John Fisher probably didn’t want to keep the team in Oakland, and turned down numerous proposals from the city to help get a new ballpark built. Now, he’s ramming a ballpark through in Las Vegas that many residents don’t want. Overall, he’s a basbeall villain.
Highly respected ESPN MLB Insider Jeff Passan took aim right at John Fisher on Twitter Thursday.
https://twitter.com/jeffpassan/status/1839434404843966845?s=61
Good for you, Jeff. It won’t change anything, but speaking up is the right thing to do.