AGENCY CLEARS WAY FOR A’S $12B PLAN

A California agency on Thursday cleared the way for the Oakland Athletics to continue planning a $12 billion waterfront ballpark project.

The San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission voted 23-2 to reclassify a 56-acre terminal at the Port of Oakland as a mixed-use area where a new ballpark could be built. The vote is the first in a series of legal hurdles the team would have to overcome before it gets permission to break ground for the project.

The commission followed the recommendation of its staff, which found the team demonstrated removing the terminal from port use “would not detract from the region’s capability to handle the projected growth in cargo.”

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said the approval moved the city closer to bringing “this bold vision into a beautiful reality and keep our A’s rooted in Oakland for generations to come.”

“Our city has historically been overlooked for major economic development, but today that story about Oakland changes,” she said in a statement.

The A’s are the last professional franchise remaining in Oakland after the NBA’s Golden State Warriors relocated to San Francisco and the NFL’s Raiders to Las Vegas in recent years. The defections weigh heavily on the Bay Area city of roughly 400,000 people, some of whom pleaded with the council Thursday to work harder to keep the team and accompanying coliseum jobs.

Last year, the Oakland

City Council approved preliminary terms for the project but A’s President Dave Kaval said the financial terms didn’t work for the team. Kaval said the team was proceeding with “parallel paths,” planning new ballparks in Oakland and Las Vegas.

Notable

The former agent of Dodgers star Freddie Freeman says his ex-team, the Atlanta Braves, is presenting a “false narrative” about the first baseman’s departure in March. Freeman was in tears in Atlanta last week when he returned to the city where he had played his entire career. His former agent, Casey Close, says the Braves are falsely suggesting that he failed to communicate a contract offer to Freeman, who signed with the Dodgers in mid-March. That deal came three days after the Braves signed All-Star first baseman Matt Olson from Oakland.

• Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford had his suspension stemming from last weekend’s brawl with the Angels reduced from five to four games, and he was set to serve the ban Thursday.

• Yankees LHP Aroldis Chapman (left Achilles tendinitis) will be activated from the injured list today. Manager Aaron Boone said that Chapman, who hasn’t pitched in the majors since May 22, could be used several ways, not just as the closer.

• The Rays put left-hander Brooks Raley and righthander Ryan Thompson on the restricted list before opening a five-game series in Toronto against the Blue Jays. Tampa Bay added righties Javy Guerra and

Sanders from