The Oakland A's should be forced to SELL their franchise

[fabiani12333]

Originally Posted by atk825

All of the yearly profit also misses the point that the value of the franchise has skyrocketed as well.

If the A's had a deep-pocketed owner willing to spend good money, they could grow their market and the value of their franchise. Back when Billy Beane was actively running the team, the A's had mainstream appeal. Silicon Valley was thriving. That's when they should have built a nice new ball park. Too bad it didn't happen.

[DarcyWinston]

Originally Posted by inaka

According to this, the 26-man A's payroll is only $36M.
https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/payroll/

And Trevor May is making 7M of that, or 20% of the entire 26-man roster payroll and he just took time off for "as long as he needs" for being garbage and having a 12.00 ERA, oops, I mean, due to anxiety.

The players association is also to blame, they refuse a salary floor because they don’t want a salary cap. Don’t know if it’s in the new labor agreement but the MLBPA I think went after the Marlins under the old agreement for not spending revenue sharing money on players. they should go after the miserly teams like the As And force them to spend revenue sharing in major league players, but I bet the PA doesn’t care enough now.

[fabiani12333]

Originally Posted by atk825

I mean Oakland has never been nicer. Property values have never been higher. It speaks to the city not giving concessions to billionaires who don't need it. And once San Jose was ruled out as a place that they could build a stadium, it really limited places in the region for them to move. Now that sports gambling is standard, Vegas is a much better place for a team anyhow. The A's were never going to be anything other than a distant second team in the region no matter what they did.

Despite rising gun violence and continued high housing costs in Oakland, a survey released this week reveals that the top concern of city residents is homelessness.
The homelessness crisis in Oakland has exploded over the past decade — an intractable problem in the wider region that city leaders have struggled to get a handle on.
Homelessness in the city has increased by 131% since 2015, and from 2019 to 2022 the number of unhoused people grew by 22%. By contrast, some other cities, including San Francisco and Berkeley, have seen decreases in recent years. Oakland now accounts for nearly half of the entire homeless population in Alameda County, with more than 5,000 people living on the streets and in shelters.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/eastbay/...y-17816397.php

Yet even as police leaders in Oakland hail tangible progress in combatting gun violence over the last year, steep challenges remain in reining in the scourge of gang violence and revenge killings that have fueled the city’s surging homicide rates since 2020. Overall crime rates remain far higher than they were just before the pandemic reordered society. And property crimes continued to rise in 2022.
...
As of Monday, burglaries were up at least 10% over last year in Oakland, led by marked increases in vehicle and commercial break-ins, while general larceny increased at least 20%. And reports of stolen vehicles rose at least 5%, as of Monday.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/01/...-year-stretch/

KTVU spoke to several owners of convenience and grocery stores in underserved communities like West and East Oakland, who say they have been repeatedly burglarized and feel like police are disinterested in investigating the cases.

Their calls for authorities to do more come as Oakland is in the midst of a surge in store burglaries. Crime data from the city police department shows commercial burglaries went up 76% last year.

https://www.ktvu.com/news/they-dont-...burglary-surge

When Oakland cafe owner Cortt Dunlap emailed his insurance agent in January, he got some shocking news: His carrier of 15 years was dropping him.
His downtown coffee shop, Awaken Cafe, had been hit by crime too frequently, Farmers Insurance decided. It had been vandalized once in 2020 and burglarized twice in 2022, including one time when a person threw a trash can into the Broadway cafe’s front windows. Then, in December, someone stole the catalytic converter from Awaken’s cargo van. Dunlap’s claims had reached a “severity greater than anticipated in our rate structure,” Farmers Insurance wrote in a non-renewal letter.

Dunlap’s insurance challenges are one symptom of a broader issue that restaurant and bar owners say feels like a huge weight bearing down on downtown Oakland: crime. They’re spending thousands of dollars to fix broken windows on a regular basis. They’ve installed security gates, door barriers and glass-break alarm sensors. They tell customers not to leave anything visible in their cars. They remind each other to be safe, especially since an Oakland baker died after a brutal robbery on a February afternoon.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/res...e-17853932.php

Couldn't. Be. Nicer.

[fabiani12333]

Originally Posted by eye4talent

As someone who lived in the East Bay for five years, I would not choose Vegas over Oakland to locate my franchise—unless it was absolutely impossible to get a stadium deal done (which is quite possibly the case).

The Bay Area is the tech center of the world, home to 8 million people, and those homes are, on average, worth over $1 million. More than one franchise can thrive there—even if the Giants have the San Jose territorial rights in their clutches.

Oakland is a fun place to live, and it has been evolving—in large part due to the tech industry expanding from Silicon Valley. The proposed Howard terminal site is a short drive/ferry/BART ride from San Francisco. And Contra Costa County is in A’s country and is full of wealthy communities.

Beyond that, if the A’s were competitive and had a stadium on par with what the Giants have, they would draw from Marin, Santa Clara and San Mateo counties—home to some obnoxiously wealthy communities. And I’d even argue that the Sacramento area, home to another 2.4 million people, would send more fans to the games if the A’s were run like a modern, big-market franchise.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I'm going to have to disagree with you on the claim that the A's would draw people from Marin, Santa Clara and San Mateo. Sacramento does seem like a good opportunity for the A's. The A's are the working class team -- specifically white and Hispanic working class types. They should have gotten a nice ball park in the Northern California away from ghetto Oakland.

[eye4talent]

Originally Posted by fabiani12333

I'm going to have to disagree with you on the claim that the A's would draw people from Marin, Santa Clara and San Mateo. Sacramento does seem like a good opportunity for the A's. The A's are the working class team -- specifically white and Hispanic working class types. They should have gotten a nice ball park in the Northern California away from ghetto Oakland.

They’re perceived as a working-class team because of Moneyball, the old stadium, and Oakland’s historic reputation. But if they were in a new stadium and ownership spent money, they would be a big draw—from working class to techies. A brand new, waterfront ballpark would be a destination unto itself.

Plus, the area between Howard Terminal and 880 is ripe for redevelopment. Had a ballpark actually gone in there, a new BART stop would go in on 4th Street, and people would walk the four blocks to the park. All that would trigger a transformation into a social hotspot.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[fabiani12333]

Originally Posted by eye4talent

They’re perceived as a working-class team because of Moneyball, the old stadium, and Oakland’s historic reputation. But if they were in a new stadium and ownership spent money, they would be a big draw—from working class to techies. A brand new, waterfront ballpark would be a destination unto itself.

Plus, the area between Howard Terminal and 880 is ripe for redevelopment. Had a ballpark actually gone in there, a new BART stop would go in on 4th Street, and people would walk the four blocks to the park. All that would trigger a transformation into a social hotspot.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Yeah, I could see plenty of young local tech workers wanting to have a good time at a nice new ball park.

[dodgerfanjohn]

I’m thinking that a lot of people on this thread are extraordinarily short sighted in terms of what Las Vegas does for sports. The Raiders have been a success and the VGK have been a smash hit. It’s not just the people living in Las Vegas, it’s the fact that it’s a destination. Even the worst NHL teams pull in fans albeit canadien winters have something to do with it. Same with NFL. No reason to believe a small ball park with casinos holding suites, a local market of nearby 3 million, and easy access for tourists won’t succeed.

[inaka]

Originally Posted by fabiani12333

The A's are the working class team -- specifically white and Hispanic working class types. They should have gotten a nice ball park in the Northern California away from ghetto Oakland.

Man, the not-so thinly veiled racist comments in this thread about Oakland are sadly not surprising.

When people take pot shots at Oakland, it's usually by people who are ignorant, have never lived there, and strangely find happiness propogating racist tropes. (There are crime stories across the bay in San Francisco that are equality troubling....or New York...or Chicago...or Los Angeles, etc. but would you mention those if the Giants were going to move, or when the Yankees were shopping sites for a new stadium?)

People who know Oakland know that there are really bad rough parts, and absolutely beautiful parts of Oakland. That's why some parts of Oakland have home prices that dwarf most of the nation, and some parts that are extremely dangerous....like most big cities.

Saying stuff like "ghetto Oakland" is some Karen level Nextdoor nonsense. Please do better.

[SearchPatrol]

Originally Posted by inaka

Man, the not-so thinly veiled racist comments in this thread about Oakland are sadly not surprising.


Saying stuff like "ghetto Oakland" is some Karen level Nextdoor nonsense. Please do better.

So using the term "ghetto" is bad. But using the term "Karen" is alright? Seems to me, you're what you claim others to be. Oakland has had a decade plus to help get this resolved. Vegas helped get this done in 2 years. Oakland leadership failed.

[inaka]

Originally Posted by SearchPatrol

So using the term "ghetto" is bad. But using the term "Karen" is alright? Seems to me, you're what you claim others to be. Oakland has had a decade plus to help get this resolved. Vegas helped get this done in 2 years. Oakland leadership failed.

Uhhh yeah, it's absolutely alright when highlighting an actual Karen. LOL

Someone interjected race into the conversation by saying "The A's are the working class team -- specifically white and Hispanic working class types. They should have gotten a nice ball park in the Northern California away from ghetto Oakland."

I didn't interject race into this, the poster did, and I commented on that ridiculousness. Not sure you care to see the difference.

One of the biggest "Karen" moments was the white lady at Lake Merritt who called the cops on black people in Oakland simply having a BBQ by the lake. It's the epitome of a Karen. That's literally where the term rose to popularity from via a meme.

Those two back-to- back posts sounded exactly like that. Same poster just posts random stories about crime in Oakland, having nothing to do with the A's or baseball. Then follows up talking about how the A's should have left "ghetto" Oakland, after mentioning working class whites and Hispanics in the same line. It's such an obviously racist jab, that yeah, the term "Karen" here fits to a "T". Sorry if that triggered you.

Many cities in America, especially those with baseball teams, have some great areas and some terrible violence. If you only call some of those cities "ghetto" and not others, ask yourself why? I have a feeling you'll know the answer but won't admit it.

[KhalDrogo]

Originally Posted by inaka

When people take pot shots at Oakland, it's usually by people who are ignorant, have never lived there, and strangely find happiness propogating racist tropes. (There are crime stories across the bay in San Francisco that are equality troubling....or New York...or Chicago...or Los Angeles, etc. but would you mention those if the Giants were going to move, or when the Yankees were shopping sites for a new stadium?)

Those cities all have something in common! Wouldn’t be bad to see NYC turn into the East coast San Francisco.

[awz50]

Originally Posted by KhalDrogo

Those cities all have something in common! Wouldn’t be bad to see NYC turn into the East coast San Francisco.

[awz50]

Nvm not worth it

[panamamyers]

Originally Posted by inaka

Uhhh yeah, it's absolutely alright when highlighting an actual Karen. LOL

Someone interjected race into the conversation by saying "The A's are the working class team -- specifically white and Hispanic working class types. They should have gotten a nice ball park in the Northern California away from ghetto Oakland."

I didn't interject race into this, the poster did, and I commented on that ridiculousness. Not sure you care to see the difference.

One of the biggest "Karen" moments was the white lady at Lake Merritt who called the cops on black people in Oakland simply having a BBQ by the lake. It's the epitome of a Karen. That's literally where the term rose to popularity from via a meme.

Those two back-to- back posts sounded exactly like that. Same poster just posts random stories about crime in Oakland, having nothing to do with the A's or baseball. Then follows up talking about how the A's should have left "ghetto" Oakland, after mentioning working class whites and Hispanics in the same line. It's such an obviously racist jab, that yeah, the term "Karen" here fits to a "T". Sorry if that triggered you.

Many cities in America, especially those with baseball teams, have some great areas and some terrible violence. If you only call some of those cities "ghetto" and not others, ask yourself why? I have a feeling you'll know the answer but won't admit it.

It's not ok to use the term "Karen" just like it's not ok to use a term like "Boomqueesha" just like it would not have been ok if the poster say that Oakland is the team of the "Julios".

I know it's not just you, but the sooner we hold everyone to the same standard across the spectrum, the better off we will all be. Do better.

[base set]

I think it’s all a moot conversation now:

https://text.npr.org/1171046613

“ The Oakland Athletics have signed a binding agreement to purchase land in Las Vegas to build a new ballpark, signaling a move away from Oakland after more than five decades in the city. “

[eye4talent]

Hold on… Are people saying that “Karen” is an offensive term? As in, terms that are racist are on the same plane as terms calling out racists?


*I do feel badly for regular people named Karen for having to deal with the name association. But that’s a separate matter.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[eye4talent]

Originally Posted by base set

I think it’s all a moot conversation now:

https://text.npr.org/1171046613

“ The Oakland Athletics have signed a binding agreement to purchase land in Las Vegas to build a new ballpark, signaling a move away from Oakland after more than five decades in the city. “

They signed a binding agreement to buy land. That binding agreement can still fall through, of course. But more significantly, there is no stadium deal.

I’m not saying it won’t happen. (It probability will.) But it’s not a done deal yet.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[SearchPatrol]

Originally Posted by inaka

Uhhh yeah, it's absolutely alright when highlighting an actual Karen. LOL

Someone interjected race into the conversation by saying "The A's are the working class team -- specifically white and Hispanic working class types. They should have gotten a nice ball park in the Northern California away from ghetto Oakland."

Ididn't interject race into this, the poster did, and I commented on that ridiculousness. Not sure you care to see the difference.

One of the biggest "Karen" moments was the white lady at Lake Merritt who called the cops on black people in Oakland simply having a BBQ by the lake. It's the epitome of a Karen. That's literally where the term rose to popularity from via a meme.

Those two back-to- back posts sounded exactly like that. Same poster just posts random stories about crime in Oakland, having nothing to do with the A's or baseball. Then follows up talking about how the A's should have left "ghetto" Oakland, after mentioning working class whites and Hispanics in the same line. It's such an obviously racist jab, that yeah, the term "Karen" here fits to a "T".

Once again, you are just as bad as those you call out.

[inaka]

Originally Posted by SearchPatrol

Once again, you are just as bad as those you call out.

And yes, you're right. I shouldn't have used the word Karen, I should have said he sounded more "BBQ Becky". That racist stuff he posted here was more BBQ Becky-like, since she was from Oakland and sounded exactly like that poster who was fearful based on race and posted nothing buy crime related news unrelated to the ballpark, and then followed it up by calling Oakland "ghetto".

If a term like saying that sounds like "Karen level stuff on Netdoor" is offensive only to objectively racist content/people, then I'm cool with using it, but thanks for playing.

[inaka]

Originally Posted by eye4talent

They signed a binding agreement to buy land. That binding agreement can still fall through, of course. But more significantly, there is no stadium deal.

I’m not saying it won’t happen. (It probability will.) But it’s not a done deal yet

This is exactly right. According to what I've read, the A's proposed that the stadium would cost at least 1.5 billion, and they are covering the 1B of that stadium. The A's need to come up with the remainder and are lobbying locally in Vegas to come up with the remaining 500M+ via tax credits, etc. Even Dave Kaval is registered as a lobbyist.

So we'll see how that pans out. I may happen, it may not, but you never know and it's not a done deal. This was a confirmed land purchase for the time being.

[Soxrule111]

Originally Posted by eye4talent

Hold on… Are people saying that “Karen” is an offensive term? As in, terms that are racist are on the same plane as terms calling out racists?


*I do feel badly for regular people named Karen for having to deal with the name association. But that’s a separate matter.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Karen should be viewed as a raciest term, I didnt read any other posts than yours so far so no idea on the context. But yes, people use the term Karen to degrade others. No idea how people think Karen is acceptable but any other name calling is viewed as bad/rude/raciest

[callou2131]

I am sad to see them go, but I get it. Even as an Orioles Fan I used to go to memorial stadium whenever they were in town. Canseco, McGwire, Henderson (both Rickey and dave) Eckersley, Weiss, that team was amazing. How the mighty have fallen. Pssst... there are lots of teams in the heart of the ghetto....

[fabiani12333]

Originally Posted by inaka

Man, the not-so thinly veiled racist comments in this thread about Oakland are sadly not surprising.

When people take pot shots at Oakland, it's usually by people who are ignorant, have never lived there, and strangely find happiness propogating racist tropes. (There are crime stories across the bay in San Francisco that are equality troubling....or New York...or Chicago...or Los Angeles, etc. but would you mention those if the Giants were going to move, or when the Yankees were shopping sites for a new stadium?)

People who know Oakland know that there are really bad rough parts, and absolutely beautiful parts of Oakland. That's why some parts of Oakland have home prices that dwarf most of the nation, and some parts that are extremely dangerous....like most big cities.

Saying stuff like "ghetto Oakland" is some Karen level Nextdoor nonsense. Please do better.

You might be surprised to find out what my racial makeup is. I posted articles about East, West and downtown Oakland -- those are the parts of Oakland that are dealing with lawlessness. I know about the Oakland hills and Piedmont -- a wealthy premoninantly white community landlocked by the Oakland Hills.

Home prices have gone up throughout Oakland:

May 2021
Over that decade, the real-estate firm Zillow estimates that Oakland’s median home value ballooned from under $380,000 in 2011 to over $890,000 — a trend that the coronavirus pandemic accelerated. Now his neighborhood is the hottest real estate market in the nine-county Bay Area region, the epicenter of a pandemic-era housing price boom in the East Bay.

Since the start of the pandemic, Reservoir Hill’s median home value has shot up by nearly 25%, from over $643,000 to about $800,000, per Zillow’s estimates. The neighborhood, which sits just south of the MacArthur Freeway and west of Fruitvale Avenue, is one of 14 in Oakland where estimated home prices increased by 15% or more in a single year. Most of these neighborhoods are in the eastern flatlands, from Reservoir Hill to Durant Manor.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/realesta...l-16155429.php

[fabiani12333]

Originally Posted by inaka

Uhhh yeah, it's absolutely alright when highlighting an actual Karen. LOL

Someone interjected race into the conversation by saying "The A's are the working class team -- specifically white and Hispanic working class types. They should have gotten a nice ball park in the Northern California away from ghetto Oakland."

I didn't interject race into this, the poster did, and I commented on that ridiculousness. Not sure you care to see the difference.

One of the biggest "Karen" moments was the white lady at Lake Merritt who called the cops on black people in Oakland simply having a BBQ by the lake. It's the epitome of a Karen. That's literally where the term rose to popularity from via a meme.

Those two back-to- back posts sounded exactly like that. Same poster just posts random stories about crime in Oakland, having nothing to do with the A's or baseball. Then follows up talking about how the A's should have left "ghetto" Oakland, after mentioning working class whites and Hispanics in the same line. It's such an obviously racist jab, that yeah, the term "Karen" here fits to a "T". Sorry if that triggered you.

Many cities in America, especially those with baseball teams, have some great areas and some terrible violence. If you only call some of those cities "ghetto" and not others, ask yourself why? I have a feeling you'll know the answer but won't admit it.

The term ghetto may have a racist connotation to many, but I used it purely in a non-racist sense to describe the lawlessness that has been occurring in parts of Oakland. The articles I posted were in response to a poster who claimed Oakland "has never been nicer" based on high property values, which is BS and out of touch with reality.

Oakland is racially diverse -- a relatively high percentage of Hispanics, east Asians and blacks. If using the term ghetto to describe parts of it is racist, it's unclear who I'm being racist against.

[inaka]

Originally Posted by fabiani12333

I posted articles about East, West and downtown Oakland -- those are the parts of Oakland that are dealing with lawlessness.

Originally Posted by fabiani12333

The term ghetto may have a racist connotation to many, but I used it purely in a non-racist sense to describe the lawlessness that has been occurring in parts of Oakland. The articles I posted were in response to a poster who claimed Oakland "has never been nicer" based on high property values, which is BS and out of touch with reality.

Oakland is racially diverse -- a relatively high percentage of Hispanics, east Asians and blacks. If using the term ghetto to describe parts of it is racist, it's unclear who I'm being racist against.

Isn't the new proposed A's stadium location in Las Vegas within walking distance of the worst mass shooting in the USA? Vegas also has a great deal of violence and crime too. Is that location a "ghetto"? Is Houston? Is Seattle? Why and why not....you know why.

Here's a hint: Big cities all across America have nice parts and very violent parts. This includes San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston, Seattle, most definitely includes Las Vegas.

Name any city that has a baseball team, or is being proposed as an expansion team location, and google crime in that city and you'll find it.

Your pot shot on the city of Oakland of listing unrelated crime reports was followed by injecting race into the conversation, ("The A's are the working class team -- specifically white and Hispanic working class types. They should have gotten a nice ball park in the Northern California away from ghetto Oakland.") and then and calling it a "ghetto". You most definitely used this term with race in mind.

Sorry if you don't like being called out on it.