The Oakland Athletics will eventually be the Las Vegas Athletics, in all likelihood, but several steps remain in the coming years before that finally comes to fruition. One of the lingering questions here in the short-term is where the A's will play between 2024 and the opening of their Vegas ballpark.
Commissioner Rob Manfred, answering questions for reporters in front of spring training on Thursday, mentioned that he's hoping for some clarity on that front very soon. In fact, he said he hopes to know, "in the next few months," also saying, "it's clearly going to be some place in the west." (via The Athletic)
We've explored a list of possibilities in the past and Sutter Health Park in Sacramento certainly seems to make a lot of sense, but, as noted, there's just no clarity on the situation just yet.
This shouldn't be a surprise. A's brass hasn't exactly been efficient here. The ballclub already missed a deadline to provide stadium renderings and financing plans for the move back in January. The Las Vegas mayor has even indicated that the best plans for the team might be to remain in Oakland.
Manfred, though, said Thursday that he'll be "disappointed" if the A's aren't in a new ballpark in Las Vegas by Opening Day of 2028 (via Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post).
And that is the plan. The A's need to get on top of things in terms of the renderings, financing and their 2025-27 home in the coming weeks, but the eventuality here is the Las Vegas A's taking the field in 2028.
The Athletics franchise goes all the way back to 1901. The timeline, as currently planned:
- Philadelphia Athletics: 1901-54
- Kansas City Athletics: 1955-67
- Oakland Athletics: 1968-2024
- ? Athletics: 2025-27
- Las Vegas Athletics: 2028-
Surely from a branding perspective they'll start going by the Las Vegas A's once they are out of Oakland, but it's hard telling exactly how everything will shake out on that end right now.
