KTVU FOX 2 photo: Rendering of an Oakland A’s waterfront ballpark under the lights a dream that has had some stop gaps for A’s team president David Kaval who is trying to build it at Howard Terminal

By Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND–According to Forbes Magazine,which is considered the Bible for finance in all industries, the Oakland A’s are #26 among all 30 major league clubs in total valuation worth about $1.02 billion; followed by #27 Kansas City,#28 Cincinnati,#29 Miami and Tampa Bay #30 are the four teams below the A’S The real big boys are the top three: New York Yankees valuation of $4 billion, followed by the Los Angeles Dodgers $3 billion and the Chicago Cubs $2.9 billion.

An interesting situation is that of the Miami Marlins, with a valuation of $1 billion, yet they were sold this past October for $1.2 billion. Yes, The Fish are swimming deep in debt and in very shallow water in attendance. The New York Yankees generated the most in revenues last year $619 million. Forbes professionals specializes in appraising the estimate of worth among most industries.On this recent 2018 list all major league teams except the Tampa Bay Rays had evaluations upwards of $1 billion. The Tampa Bay Rays $900 million, and they are last. A lot of things are taken into consideration on these evaluations, like size of the market, debt by the team, revenue projections and potential plans for the team(in this case of the A’s a new ballpark) plus other factors.

In the case of the Oakland Athletics, who have a valuation of a little above $1 billion, they also have the lowest payroll, #30 of $69 million this season. Commissioner Manfred had said repeatedly that he wants the A’s to stay in Oakland, and with the move of the Raiders to Las Vegas and the Warriors to San Francisco within two years, the A’s are all but assured they will stay in Oakland. The possibility of a new ballpark for the Athletics with or without a Gondola are good.

They probably have odds in Vegas about that also and my guess will be like 10 to 5 odds, that they will build a new park someplace in Oakland. The Howard Terminal is the front runner, with the Oakland Coliseum as the “pinch hitter”if the Terminal strikes out. The San Francisco Giants valuation is $2.85 Billion. Every year teams valuations go up. The average team worth is $1.645 billion, which is 7% more than in 2017.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the play-by-play Spanish announcer for the Oakland A’s and is the vice president of the MLB Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com