Report: Oakland to offer A’s 5-year lease, with ‘extension fee’
The city of Oakland will make a pitch to keep the Athletics in town for up to five years by extending the team’s lease, ESPN reported late Saturday night.
Citing documents the network said it and San Francisco television station KGO have obtained, the offer will be presented on Tuesday, when the city and team meet for the third time since MLB owners gave their unanimous for the franchise to move to Las Vegas.
The team would be able to opt out of the lease after three years, according to the report, but would be required to pay the city a $97 million “extension fee” per the documents, the report said. The current lease expires after this season.
With a new stadium in Las Vegas not expected to be ready before the start of the 2028 season, the A’s have been exploring where to play their home games beyond 2024.
The report indicated that Oakland is no longer demanding that the A’s name and colors be reserved for the city, nor that MLB guarantee Oakland an expansion team. The extension fee would not be subject to negotiation, however, according to the city’s chief of staff, Leigh Hanson.
The team has previously proposed a two-year agreement with payments of $7 million and $10 million over the course of the lease. The A’s pay $1.5 million in rent to play in the Coliseum under the expiring lease.
SUNDAY’S GAMES
Angels 4, Orioles 1: Taylor Ward hit his second home run in two days, Reid Detmers pitched five strong innings and visiting Los Angeles beat Baltimore to avert being swept in the three-game opening series.
Detmers (1-0) allowed a run on two hits. He struck out seven and walked three. Jose Soriano followed with three scoreless innings of relief and Carlos Estevez worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his first save.
Phillies 5, Braves 4: Alec Bohm had two hits and two RBI, Kyle Schwarber homered and singled and host Philadelphia salvaged its three-game homestand with a victory over Atlanta.
Trea Turner hit an RBI single for the Phillies, who were outscored 21-7 in the first two games.
Since the Braves started left-hander Chris Sale, the Phillies only had one lefthanded batter in the starting lineup in Schwarber. Bryce Harper, Bryson Stott and Brandon Marsh were not in the lineup though Stott and Marsh each were called upon as pinch hitters in the seventh inning.
Harper tumbled over the railing by the dugout in Saturday’s loss, but manager Rob Thomson said that event was unrelated to being lifted for this scheduled day off.
Brewers 4, Mets 1:
Colin Rea combined with two relievers on a sevenhitter for visiting Milwaukee, which completed a season-opening threegame sweep of New York. The Brewers are 3-0 for the first time since 2018. The Mets opened 0-3 for the first time since 2014.
Rea allowed one run on five hits and two walks while striking out two over five innings for the Brewers, whose starters allowed just four runs over 15 innings this weekend. The Mets had two hits in seven at-bats with runners on against Rea, who wriggled out of a bases-loaded, two-out jam in the fourth by getting Omar Narvaez to fly out to the warning track in right.
Blue Jays 9, Rays 2:
Toronto’s Justin Turner went 3 for 4 and drove in four runs in his biggest day with the Blue Jays as they clobbered host Tampa Bay. The third baseman singled, doubled and homered in the first five innings. He also scored twice and walked.
Davis Schneider homered and had two RBIs, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa went 2-for-3 with a walk and a run as Toronto won the opener and finale in the four-game series.
Reds 6, Nationals 5:
Will Benson tied the game with a two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth and Christian Encarnacion-Strand lined a solo homer to left to complete the rally as Cincinnati edged visiting Washington. Just one strike from defeat, Jonathan India won a 10pitch encounter with Nationals closer Kyle Finnegan (0-1) by driving a double down the left field line.
Royals 11, Twins 0:
Salvador Perez homered and drove in four runs and Brady Singer struck out 10 over seven shutout innings as Kansas City blasted visiting Minnesota. The Royals launched five home runs to salvage the final game of their seasonopening series, out-hitting the Twins 14-4.
Singer (1-0) efficiently dispatched the Twins, striking out seven in the first five innings. He allowed three hits, one walk and hit two batters.
Tigers 3, White Sox 2:
Pinch hitter Andy Ibanez ripped a go-ahead RBI single in the top of the ninth as Detroit won at Chicago to complete a three-game series sweep.
Yankees 4, Astros 3:
Juan Soto produced his third consecutive multi-hit game, snapping a ninthinning deadlock with an opposite-field RBI single that pushed New York over host Houston and a four-game series sweep.