It’ll happen when it happens
- 02.08.12, 18:10
- 63 Comments
Update 2/9 2:30 PM – KQED FM’s Nina Thorsen has posted a transcript of Wolff’s talk.
It seems that when Lew Wolff makes one of his frequent trips up from LA to the Bay Area, he tries to pack as many appointments as possible. I mentioned during the August interview that just after our discussion, he was going up to Oakland to chat with Mayor Jean Quan. When we met in 2009, it was just after he met with San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed. Today he discussed the A’s and Quakes at a San Jose Rotary lunch in downtown San Jose, a day after he appeared on Bloomberg TV. The better to save on jet fuel, I guess.
As usual, Wolff didn’t reveal in his talk with staunch ballpark proponent and Santa Clara County Assessor Larry Stone. Much of what he’s said we’ve written about, so I won’t both rehashing much of it. If you want a recap, read Merc scribe John Woolfork’s article. BANG A’s beat writer Joe Stiglich was there, as was KQED’s Nina Thorsen, mic in hand. The news of the day was this:
(Wolff) gave no indication why it wouldn’t go his way. But he also said nothing’s changed with regard to the Giants’ position that Santa Clara County is theirs alone. There’s been no discussion of a monetary figure for buying off the Giants’ territorial claims, though Wolff noted the Giants didn’t pay the A’s to acquire them.
Now I don’t expect MLB or Wolff to say anything about T-rights negotiations, however deep or frequent they’ve been. If the Giants hold fast to their no-negotiation stance, and the A’s believe that they shouldn’t have to pay for T-rights, then it’s difficult to see what Commissioner Bud Selig has to work with unless he decrees an amount or lets the matter go to arbitration.
Wolff also said that the team would be named the “San Jose Athletics”, which is no surprise. According to an AP report, there was Stomper doll on display with a San Jose Athletics uniform on. One unaffiliated company has gone as far as mocking up logos (non-MLB Properties infringing, of course) with San Jose and green and gold. The results look quite professional, I have to say.
Stiglich mentioned that Wolff would like to hear a decision in a couple of months. At some point we’re going to have to use Friedman Units or Kardashians in describing how long this is taking. Right now, it’s 6 FU’s. It’ll happen when it happens, I suppose. Wake me when there’s real news to report.
I don’t expect Wolff to reveal any details of negotiations, but it is kind of disturbing to hear him saying that no negotiations or discussions have taken place.
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If there was serious activity behind the scenes, the normal answer would be “I can’t comment on that now.”
@Simon,
You really think Wolff would reveal to the media that negotiations, discussions are currently taking place with the Giants? IMHO, I think not. He says the end is near: that’s all we need to no right now.
Also, if there’s been no discussion of a monetary figure to “buy out” the Giants, perhaps they won’t be bought out. Again, maybe we’re looking at a guaranteed franchise value and guaranteed revenue levels from years 2016-17 for the Giants. Since the Giants paid 0$ for SCCO., this would be a fair compensation package for sharing said county with the A’s. The end is near…
The Giants are a bunch of greedy bastards. They paid NOTHING for those territorial rights back in the early 90′s when they were exploring options for a new ballpark in the San Jose area, because they threatening to move to Tampa Bay if they didn’t get a new ballpark here in the Bay. The A’s owners at the time were nice enough (or stupid enough) to let them have that territory to try and stay in the Bay Area.
My question is, since the Giants ended up staying in the Bay Area and eventually built AT&T at the China Basin, then why weren’t those “territorial rights” to Santa Clara County REVOKED like they should have been by Faye Vincent or Bud Selig??
Did they fall a sleep at the wheel? I would love to someone in the sports media here in the Bay Area on TV or more than likely on Radio to ask Faye Vincentt and Bud Selig this question. I want to hear the answer!
@TonyD – I have always figured the compensation would be something other than straight cash — guaranteed franchise value, maybe a joint Giants/A’s RSN deal with terms favoring Giants, etc. Nobody involved in this deal has incentive to make a direct cash payment. If the A’s were getting a free ballpark from San Jose, they might be able to do that, but they aren’t. MLB won’t shell out one dime.
But there’s a big difference between not revealing negotiations and actually stating that there have been no negotiations. Wolff is saying the latter, and that tells me the end is not very near. Also, if we were anywhere near resolution, Wolff wouldn’t be grumbling about how this can’t go on forever and maybe he could force an ownership vote even though it’s not his nature.
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Anyone expecting Bud to lay down the law and make a decision on his own, please note: the man wasn’t even willing to adjudicate the Theo Epstein compensation between the Red Sox and Cubs. He isn’t going to suddenly announce that T-rights are worth X and resolve this issue on his own without negotiations between the two clubs.
Tony, I think your optimism is great, but unfounded. Wolff wouldn’t be bringing up the specter of forcing the vote if negotiations were occurring. Which means he’s very likely being truthful when he says none have occurred yet.
Marine Layer,
I was wondering if we can receive an update from you on the SJ Cisco Field Analysis that was done awhile back? Any updates on logistics, location and possible ballpark design alternatives?
http://newballpark.org/2010/08/27/marine-layers-cisco-field-analysis/
Oh, it’s been in negotiations, or MLB is doing something –
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Selig, after the meeting with BRC – “The A’s stadium situation is on the front burner”.
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When asked if the situation was on third base, Selig shrugged and said “a baseball analogy is as good as any”. – Neither a confirmation nor a denial.
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The only thing Wolff said wasn’t talked about to him was Giants compensation. That doesn’t mean Selig is not doing anything, or that negotiations are not happening between he and the Giants, or he and the rest of the owners, or whatever. And it makes sense that Wolff has been talked to about Giants compensation, because if the Giants do get compensation, it shouldn’t be the A’s to pay it. The A’s gave them that territory in the first place, and it’s been MLB’s stupid rules and general incompetence that has allowed the gnats to keep those nefarious T-rights.
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It’s all behind the scenes, and and the only thing all of us can do is speculate.
Could not have said it better myself JA! Facts are Selig said the issue is front and center and Wolff hinted yesterday he feels the end is near. I’ll just go with that for now. If we’re still talking about this come (say) summer or fall, then even I will start loosing hope.
I also forgot to mention that Selig said, after the BRC presentation, that he wants to make sure that the Giants aren’t suing and slowing up the process.
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That’s overwhelming evidence that Selig wants to open up SJ to the A’s, and that he’s actively working on it, and is probably in negotiations with the gnats.
You guys really believe that resolution is imminent even though Wolff says there have been no negotiations yet and he might have to resort to calling an ownership vote against Selig’s wishes?
I remember coming out of Scottsdale hearing that there would be no negotiations until the Giants’ lawsuit was dropped.
So it’s very likely no negotiations involving the A’s and Giants together at least have taken place. Which would track with what Wolff said. I think everyone’s desire to see this done has clouded them to the reality that even being on the front burner means we’ve still got a long way to go. Only difference is we’re now in time when progress might be made. Until January we weren’t even in a holding pattern. Until January we were a non-issue in MLB’s agenda book.