Rep Barbara Lee (D) Calif speaks at a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022. Lee has said that she and Sen Alex Padilla (D) Calif might look into baseball’s anti trust exemption and how MLB and A’s owner John Fisher moved the team to Las Vegas and how it impacts California financially (AP file photo)
MLB The Show podcast with Stephen Ruderman:
#1 This week MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said the City of Oakland was not prepared with an offer to the A’s. Many a talk show host and reporter said that was not true that Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao said they were close to a deal.
#2 Mayor Thao said Howard Terminal had the finishing touches ready to go and was 10% of the way there.
#3 Do you believe that A’s owner John Fisher and Manfred wanted Las Vegas all along even though the Howard Terminal deal looked like it was close to being completed and they made the “binding agreement” in Las Vegas announcement ahead of any deal with the City of Oakland?
#4 Historically how will baseball history look back on Commissioner Manfred and owner Fisher. Will it be favorably because they brought baseball to Las Vegas or negatively because they didn’t bargain in good faith with the City of Oakland because they were close to a deal.
#5 The hopes of any change for the A’s to stay in Oakland rests with the MLB owners who have a vote that could be coming as soon as next week. Will they vote no because the A’s are not paying any relocation fees which would be a $30 million share for each team or no team in the future would have to pay a relocation fee in the future.
#6 Should playing in the #40 media market matter? Las Vegas is the smallest in MLB with the smallest park in MLB.
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