Saw this come over the wire from Peter Gammons while watching the football afternoon wind down:
Combine this with Ken Rosenthal’s report from yesterday and I come to one conclusion: The A’s situation may finally be showing some signs of movement, but it is still very much in flux.
newballpark.org 
To borrow a line from Jeffrey: again..IT’S ALMOST OVER!! RAIDERS!
i know gammons over the years has repeatedly said that he believes the a’s will eventually make the move to sj.
Smoke means fire…
I have to believe something is up. I can’t imagine the A’s wouldn’t even bother speaking with Willingham or Crisp’s agents if they didn’t feel something was happening. Doesn’t jive…
Gammons doesn’t know s***! He’s repeatedly wrong and the biggest Oakland detractor. Figures he would write some B.S. like that
Gammons and Rosenthal are just writing about this speculatively and without knowing shit… Right. Add to it the first recent national story that included something similar (the “tacit approval” story) and it is clear this situation is being talked about and is close to resolution.
I notice the Oakland-Only folks are getting nastier as the SJ-positive news and rumors continue to trickle out…..
Billy Beane is still looking for real owners? Should of taken that Boston job when he had a chance.
Lone-That’s because the Oakland contingency is down by 10 points with 2 seconds to go. San Jose, start chilling the champagne!
“I notice THOSE EMOTIONALLY INVESTED IN OAKLAND are getting upset as THEIR TEAM IS BEING STOLEN AWAY FROM THEM…..”fixed.
Really? You don’t comprehend why people in Oakland might be upset with this news? A whole community is going to have their team taken away and re branded under a neighboring community’s banner. What happens, happens, but let people have the right to be upset for goodness sake.
Vince,
Its actually “A’s fans who want to see a newballpark in the Bay Area in their lifetime” who should start chilling the champagne. But yes, from a civic pride standpoint, it will be awesome for this SJ native (soon to be resident again).
Sorry guys, “in flux” is not latin for “in the bag”.
Not sure why this would be good for San Jose? I really just take all the smoke to mean “fire is burning” or “resolution is close.” not sure what resolution means, yet, but pretty sure we will have it in about 2 months.
I think what ML is inferring is that this means is that Gammons and Rosenthal got a source to tell them that Selig was going to talk to the Giants. I believe that ML shares my opinion that both are making quite a leap from that to a resolution in favor of the A’s to SJ is coming soon.
Something to think about when Selig/MLB do talk to the Giants in a few weeks. It’s not going to be MLB on its knees begging Baer to allow the A’s into SJ; it’s going to be MLB TELLING the Giants enough with the bullshit, let’s make this work out for both teams and MLB. Remember, THE BEST INTEREST OF BASEBALL, NOT THE BEST INTEREST OF THE SF GIANTS.
Stanley, respectfully, you seem like a pretty smart guy. Based on everything we’ve been presented with and know for the past few years (even weeks), how could you not see all this as the A’s to SJ coming soon? Just curious.
How come it’s bullshit now when just a few years ago Selig says that TR’s are sacred?
The Giants got their way on keeping the Piccinini group out of the picture in 1999. What makes you think it won’t happen again by upholding the TR’s? Selig has always taken the Giants side on everything.
@jk-usa
Perhaps you should consider that Selig is completely fed up with the Oakland Athletics being a financial sink-hole, and a blemish on the game with their terrible stadium, small market, not big enough corporate base, and league worse attendance, and a broke city that acts absolutely indifferent. Then, SJ solves all of that. Selig’s gotta be thinking, “the Giants are just fine, f&%$ their t-rights”.
@jeff-athletic You do realize that the A’s will technically be in the same market in SJ as in Oakland? Besides, Oakland/Eastbay has around 2.7 million residents, it’s hardly small population wise.
ML,
Been a while since I posted here, though I always peruse the site. Thanks for all the work you’ve done!
In the bag though? I’m reminded of Daniel’s vision. Tekel Uparsin..the hand writing on the wall. The mere act of publicity makes it very clear that the decision has been made. Publically “talking” to the Giants is a pro forma part of the drama.
Tony’s enthusiasim is about to be vindicated.
Don’t the Dodgers have a general manager? Andrew Jackson Gammons might have been tippin’ a few during the afternoon pigskin viewing….
The same anonymous source who told Rosenthal about Selig’s plan to talk with the Giants also floated the possibility of MLB buying out Wolff if the Giants refuse to deal. The source also noted that Wolff was warned when he bought the A’s at a bargain price that he couldn’t count on getting permission to move to SJ.
The idea that Selig is going to put a gun to the Giants’s head and order them to let the A’s have San Jose is fantasy. Observe what happened in Washington: MLB had a far more lucrative offer from DC than what San Jose has on the table. The Montreal situation was even more hopeless than Oakland’s is now. And Peter Angelos’ claim on the Washington market was much weaker than the Giants’s claim to San Jose. Yet Selig spent months negotiating with Angelos, who ended up with a compensation package he was enthusiastic about.
.
Unfair, maybe. But that is the way MLB works. One thing certain about all this is that whether or not the A’s come to SJ, the eventual announcement will be a deal that makes Larry Baer happy. And that’s why an announcement in January is extremely unlikely.
Whatever you say Simon.
@Simon- did bs put a gun to Crane regarding moving the Astros to the AL West? Did bs ultimately get what he wanted from McCourt in putting the Dodgers up for sale? Not resolving the A’s situation by opening up SJ just means that the past 3-years have been a waste as Oakland still has no site, no EIR, and no financing package….bs isn’t going to let this go on indefinitely and having MLB take over the A’s isn’t a solution to the problem.
I really wish BS would go into the talk with Baer and say “Okay, I’ll give the Giants two options. Option 1, The A’s go to San Jose and build a privately funded $500 million dollar stadium and play there. Option 2, the A’s assume the remaining debt of PacBell, and play in San Francisco, and the GIANTS go down to San Jose and build a $500 million privately funded stadium there.”
Jeff,
No one said it’s in the bag, just that resolution is likely forthcoming (at least resolution on the SJ issue). Resolution as a whole if SJ is denied is still a ways off, though it won’t end well for the Bay Area.
I have been one to agree to this point the Giants hold the cards because Selig will not force anyone to do anything.
Selig has been known as a consensus builder and I feel after reading Rosenthal’s article and the statements from the Tampa Bay owner that the end is near as he has the votes and a compensation package for the Giants ready to go.
At this point Selig has pushed a 2015 deadline to have a new stadium built. He knew full well he could wait until the end of 2011 before doing anything. Wolff has said it would take 6-9 months for permits and 2 years to build.
If he gets the nod now, ATT leaves the Diridon site, the special election goes on in March and he can start the permit process in April and construction can start in Jan 2013 with a April 2015 opening day.
The timing of everything and all the news that has come out recently tells you San Jose is going to happen after all these years.
Do I think Moneyball was a reason for a delay? No, much like Mark Purdy thinking the change in Giants ownership was leverage for the A’s move to San Jose. I just do not see that anywhere near this.
Selig hates the A’s, hence why he waited this long. “All options have been exhausted” and San Jose is all that is left.
Selig will force the Giants hand….He has no choice now.
He tried to negotiate, he tried to find a free ballpark elsewhere, and he has tried to avoid this day upcoming for years.
The Giants have been selfish and the other owners know this very well. The time has come for them to be voted of the island. Selig has dreaded this but it must be done.
San Jose A’s in 2015! Selig finally grows a pair!
@simon – the choices here are between a relatively firm plan and the support of the owner (SJ) to basically no plan (Oakland). The comparison to DC is not analogous.
The only comparison I’m making to DC is that Selig negotiated with Angelos even though he didn’t have to. There was no, “Listen, Jerk, putting a team into a top 10 media market which isn’t even within your territory is in baseball’s best interest, so please shut up” which is what the delusional crowd thinks will happen with the A’s/SJ situation.
.
Instead it was a dozen different ways for Angelos to try green eggs and ham, until the Baltimore troll got a package that any Washington fan will tell you was one-sided and totally undeserved. Because unless an owner is an outright crook like Frank McCourt, Bud believes in making them all happy.