Athletics want to move from cellar to Vegas
The gap between baseball’s penthouse and outhouse feels like a canyon this season. In one neighborhood you have the Blue Jays, Dodgers, Mets, Padres, Phillies, and Yankees. All are teams with payrolls in excess of $200 million and run by ownership groups determined to win.
On the other side of town are the Athletics, Reds and Rockies, teams with proud histories who have alienated their respective fan bases.
Oakland went into the weekend 316 with seven consecutive losses. It equaled the worst start in the history of a franchise that goes back to 1901. The Athletics were outscored by an average of 4.5 runs in those 19 games.
Worse, the news broke late Wednesday that the team had abandoned its plan to build a new stadium in Oakland and instead purchased 49 acres west of the Las Vegas strip.
With MLB’s backing, the Athletics are moving and hope to be in their new ballpark by the 2027 season.
The Bay Area is the sixth largest media market in the country with a population of 7.7 million. Las Vegas is the 40th largest market and has a population of 647,000.
This is a money grab for owner John Fisher. Those 49 acres are big enough for three ballparks. He’s in it for the development rights.
“I am deeply disappointed that the A’s have chosen not to negotiate with the City of Oakland as a true partner, in a way that respects the long relationship between the fans, the city and the team,” Oakland’s mayor, Sheng Thao, said.
She should be relieved. Under Fisher and president Dave Kaval, the Athletics have run a bare-bones operation, slicing the payroll to $60.1 million while raising ticket prices.
Oakland averaged 11,623 fans for a recent six-game homestand. Athletics management is so inept that the visiting team television booth couldn’t be used by the Mets announcers last week because a possum had taken up residence in the walls and the stench of its droppings made the room uninhabitable.
Oakland is so desperate that 24year-old righthander Mason Miller made his major league debut Wednesday after appearing in only 11 minor league games since being drafted in 2021.
Miller pitched well, allowing two earned runs over 4„ innings. That’s about as far as hope goes for Oakland.
The A’s have won four World Series since coming to Oakland in 1968, one more than the Giants have in San Francisco since 1958. But the Giants have a beautiful ballpark, committed fans, and a healthy future.
In Cincinnati, the Reds have played 12 home games and seven drew fewer than 14,000 fans. Monday’s game against the Rays had an announced crowd of 7,375, the smallest in the 20year history of Great American Ballpark outside of 2020.
Yes, it was cold. But 7,375? The Reds have good young talent and recently signed 23-year-old righthander Hunter Greene to a six-year contract worth $53 million.
But the fans in Cincinnati aren’t buying what owner Bob Castellini is selling. The Reds haven’t won a playoff series since 1995 and CEO Phil Castellini, the owner’s son, told a fan group before the season that baseball’s economic system was stacked against the Reds.
Rockies fans are fed up, too. Colorado finished a homestand Wednesday having lost eight straight while giving up 64 runs. Wednesday’s game against the Pirates, a 14-3 loss, drew 18,511 at Coors Field, the smallest crowd in more than a decade.
Rockies owner Dick Monfort has complained bitterly about the Padres adding high-priced talent. Meanwhile his team has one playoff victory since 2010 and San Diego is projected to draw 3.2 million this season.
SWEET DREAMS Where do Sox stand on Ohtani?
In his latest notable feat, Shohei Ohtani homered off Clarke Schmidt at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday, the 100th anniversary of the day the original Stadium opened and Babe Ruth homered off Red Sox righthander Howard Ehmke.
“It was amazing,” Mike Trout said. “That’s what he does.”
The Yankees took advantage of the series by selling three Ohtani-themed T-shirts at the ballpark, one showing him paired with Aaron Judge.
When Ohtani was at Fenway Park last weekend, metal barriers were needed on Jersey Street to keep several hundred passionate fans a safe distance from Ohtani when he boarded the team bus after games.
Ohtani played seven games in Boston and New York on the road trip and praised both ballparks in his postgame remarks.
Ohtani can become a free agent after the season and could reasonably expect a contract worth at least $400 million. He’s the ultimate addition, a player who upgrades the lineup, rotation, and the bottom line.
Imagine the ratings on NESN if Ohtani played for the Sox?
Rival executives can’t discuss their interest in a player on another team. So this was the question put to Chaim Bloom: Are the Red Sox positioned to pursue any player who could be available during the offseason?
He paused for a second.
“I always feel like that,” Bloom said. “I think it’s always just a question of is this the best fit? Obviously, it’s far enough down the road where it’s hard to think about any of those hypotheticals right now. But I certainly don’t think that as we sit here right now this team is out of anything. As things come up, we see where we’re at.”
Make of that what you will.
Whether to pursue Ohtani is a decision ownership ultimately would have to make. But don’t you have to give it your best shot? The entire point of their vaunted financial flexibility should be to chase a player of his magnitude.
A few other observations on the Red Sox:
As with any manager, it’s fair to debate the decisions Alex Cora makes for the Red Sox. That’s baseball. His actions with the 2017 Astros can’t be overlooked, either.
But you can’t dispute the genuine feeling Cora has for his players.
When Chris Sale pitched his best game in nearly four years last week, allowing one run over six innings and striking out 11 against the Twins, the manager showed some emotion afterward.
“He’s so hard on himself,” Cora said. “I hope he backs up. It’s not only you; you were hurt and it takes time to compete at that level. He’s so accountable. So it was great.”
Cora then addressed the media directly.
“I know you guys don’t root for us and all that. You have a job to do,” he said. “But I bet you guys inside are rooting for that kid because he’s been so great for this city and what he brings on a daily basis for you guys as professionals.
“It’s not about the Red Sox. It’s about a guy who has taken his hits the last few years. He’s been very upfront about it and he’s working so hard to get to this point.”
It’s too early to say Corey Kluber is toast. But the 37-year-old is 1-8 with a 7.36 ERA and 1.66 WHIP in his last nine starts going back to last season.
Opponents have hit .329 in those games with eight home runs. Kluber has averaged 7.58 strikeouts per nine innings, which is below league average.
There’s really no such thing as a bad one-year contract. But the $10 million the Sox invested in Kluber may have been better spent on another starter.
John Farrell has understandably steered clear of Fenway Park since he was fired after the 2017 season. But he attended the reunion of the 2013 team last week and seemed genuinely happy to be back and around so many of his players and coaches.
“Just a great group of guys that cared for one another and sacrificed for one another,” he said. “In every sense of the word that was a team.”
Farrell still marvels that the Sox were able to hold off what was a seemingly much better team in the Tigers in the ALCS. Then David Ortiz took over in the World Series, going 11 for 15 with four extra-base hits and six RBIs in the first five games.
“To this day, I thank the Cardinals for continuing to pitch to Ortiz,” Farrell said. “It wasn’t until Game 6 when they said, “You know, we’ll finally walk him.’ ”
It was good to see former Sox third base coach and infield coach Brian Butterfield at Fenway for the reunion. Butterfield, 66, is not working for a team, but said he is not ready to retire after being involved in pro ball since 1979.
“I feel like I can help a team,” he said. “We’ll see what happens.”
Butterfield, who lives in Maine, would be an excellent roving infield instructor for a team with affiliates in the Northeast. Talk to players like Stephen Drew and Dustin Pedroia and they’ll tell you the impact he had on their careers.
The Red Sox went with their usual 7:10 p.m. start times against the Twins on Tuesday and Wednesday. The temperature at first pitch was 54 degrees on Tuesday and 46 on Wednesday.
Would 6:40 p.m. starts be better? Plenty of fans think so.
A Twitter poll taken Tuesday showed 80.3 percent of 2,215 voters preferred 6:50 instead of 7:10.
Here’s a new one: infielder Yu Chang went on virtual paternity leave last week.
With his wife in Taiwan for the birth of their daughter, Chang would have needed more than the three allotted days to travel back and forth. So he participated via video call, missed the game on Wednesday and rejoined the team Thursday.
Chang belted a two-run homer to celebrate.
ETC. More new rules coming for MLB?
Major League Baseball has used the independent Atlantic League as a laboratory to try out new rules over the last few years.
They are unveiling some doozies this year.
Starting Friday, the league will use a designated pinch runner. Before every game, teams will designate a substitute as the designated pinch runner. That player can be used at any time during the game, once an inning with a limit of one time per batter.
In theory, the runner could be used nine times in a game.
The batter who is replaced by the designated pinch runner can return to the game.
The league also will try what has come to be known as the “Double-Hook DH” rule. This is less complicated. If the starting pitcher goes five innings, his team keeps the DH. If not, they lose it for the remainder of the game.
The idea here is to discourage the use of openers and bullpen games and force teams to develop starters who can pitch five innings.
Why? In 2012, starters averaged
5.88 innings. In 2022, it was 5.21. The starting pitcher is slowly fading in relevance.
The third rule would allow pitchers one disengagement from the rubber instead of twice, as is the case in the majors. That change is designed to encourage more stolen bases.
The first two rules would seem to be non-starters in the majors. A pinch runner coming in and out of the game would be a farce. It’s also unfair to designated hitters to have their at-bats taken away through no fault of their own.
Players are paid based on statistics. A hitter like J.D. Martinez or Kyle Schwarber shouldn’t get taken out of the game because their teammate couldn’t go five innings.
The disengagement rule could have merit if stolen bases do not sufficiently increase in the majors this season. There is a lot to be said for getting the running game back in baseball.
Extra bases
Rays lefthander Jeffrey Springs, whose transformation with Tampa Bay was detailed in this space last week, needs Tommy John surgery and will miss the remainder of the season . . . Teams make difficult choices with veteran players all the time, especially small-market clubs. When longtime center fielder Kevin Kiermaier became a free agent after last season, the Rays let him go to the Blue Jays on a oneyear deal worth $9 million. Kiermaier had played the fifth-most games in team history and won three Gold Gloves, but Tampa Bay had Manuel Margot lined up to play center field at $7 million for this season. Kiermaier didn’t seem to appreciate being prodded out the door. “I love to be loved, and feel appreciated and wanted. And the Blue Jays have done that from the get-go. I cannot thank them enough,” he told The Tampa Bay Times when asked about the move. “I feel so at home. I love it.” . . . Bryce Harper, who had Tommy John surgery in November, has progressed to taking live batting practice and there is a distinct possibility he will skip a minor league rehab assignment and simply be activated by the Phillies in May. Harper has sharpened his swing by taking pitches from a Trajekt Arc programmable pitching machine. The device, which colleague Alex Speier wrote about in March, can replicate the offerings of any major league pitcher . . . Clayton Kershaw became the 121st pitcher with at least 200 wins when he beat the Mets on Tuesday. The impressive part is that is his career ERA of 2.48 is the lowest of any 200-game winner since 1927 and his career .694 win-loss percentage is the best of the modern ERA for any pitcher with 200 wins... Eduardo Rodriguez has a 3.00 ERA through four starts with Detroit and on Tuesday pitched eight scoreless innings against Cleveland with 10 strikeouts and no walks. No Tiger had done that since Max “Sticky Fingers”
Scherzer in 2012 . . . The Angels did not have their radio announcers at Fenway Park last weekend. As a cost-cutting measure, the team has them call games watching a television feed. The Blue Jays shamefully do the same thing. Listening to a skilled announcer verbally paint a picture of what is going on at the ballpark is one of the joys of listening to a game. That can’t be done unless they’re on site . . . You’ll want to check out “Tito: The Terry Francona Story” on MLB Network. It premieres at 8 p.m. Sunday. Theo Epstein, Jon Lester, Kevin Millar, Dustin Pedroia, Curt Schilling, and Dan Shaughnessy are among those interviewed . . . Congratulations to the founder of this column, Peter Gammons, on being one of the recipients of a Social Impact MVP Award from Harvard’s Department of Peace. Gammons, Dr. Bernard Franklin, and
Dr. Cornel West were honored for making a difference in the lives of young students. Gammons was recognized for his work with the Foundation To Be Named Later and the Gammons College Scholars Program, which had sent more than 200 students into four-year schools . . . Happy birthday to Todd Jones, who will be 55 on Monday. The righthander pitched 16 seasons in the majors including part of the 2003 season with the Red Sox. He is 22nd in career saves with 319, more than Hall of Famers Goose Gossage (310) and
Bruce Sutter (300).