Just saw a bit on the news down here (Reno apparently is A's and Giants country, though I could care less) that the A's are announcing today or tomorrow that they've signed a new 5-year lease at the Coliseum that will give them time to explore other ballpark solutions in the east bay. For the first time, the team will pay rent to use the facility, but it looks like they're officially staying put.

Herons!

I've been saying for a while that I don't believe the A's will move. And I don't think they need a new stadium either.

They need broadcasting revenue-sharing. Just like everyone else in baseball does, except for a handful of clubs.

Portland in the National League.

I think its a bad choice by the A's to sign that 5 year deal, as soon as the A's have to go through a rebuilding phase they wont be able to draw fly's which is typical of their history in Oakland. If they do stay they need a new ballpark not only for revenue but because that place is a lousy place to watch a game in my opinion. This seriously hurts our chances in my opinion, I always thought they were the most likely team to move here and I know some in PBG thought that also.

[From ESPN]

Extension could end talk of move to Santa Clara

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Associated Press

OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Oakland Athletics are close to signing a lease extension that would keep the team at the Coliseum and end talk of a move across San Francisco Bay to Santa Clara.

"I think we're close, hopefully we'll have something soon on that," team president Mike Crowley said Wednesday.

The extension would be a five-year deal, keeping the team at the Coliseum through 2007.

Crowley said the ultimate goal still is to move the team to a baseball-only stadium in Oakland. The A's currently share the Coliseum with the NFL's Oakland Raiders.

"The real mission here is to get a lease to play here and then to get a new stadium. We need that in order to be able to survive," Crowley said.

A man has to have goals- for a day, for a lifetime- that was mine, to have people say, "There goes Ted Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived."
- Ted Williams

Pure speculation here, but if it is an extension, then it would still be year-to-year, right?

Oakland/Alameda must still get their act together by the end of this year. If there's no plan for a park by then, the A's could still move.

also a 5 year lease is not a huge deal to buy out even if its not year to year. 5 years is not like tampas 24 years left on their lease.

Bonehead MLB insider quote of the week-season-decade (repeat often, have all MLB employees say this like a mantra; soon everyone will believe it is true):

quote:

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"The real mission here is to get a lease to play here and then to get a new stadium. We need that in order to be able to survive," Crowley said.

---

Ya know, those Brewers were probably set to be contracted because they played in an outdated stadium. Drew poor crowds, bad market, too small, too saturated, too close to existing clubs. But it's a good thing the citizens built a brand new retractable roof, butterfly-ugly stadium because they needed that to survive. Now they're drawing HUGE crowds of like 13,000-14,000. Yes, they are no longer on the contraction chopping block, thanks to that wonderful (double half-fast-looking) stadium that now ensures their survival.
[/sarcasm]

Portland in the National League.

Yup matt i second your sarcasm concerning the brew crew and bud. If bud and family would bother to invest a little in talent that might win once in awhile maybe somebody would show up and that investment in talent would pay off with some profit. You generally have to invest money to make money. The brew crew stinks, i watched them play against the expos and the brewers dont have half the talent of the poverty starved expos, maybe the brewers need to hire some new scounts.

(not my quote) There is no such thing as small markets only small management.