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A's, Oakland break off lease extension talks

By Josh Suchon
MEDIANEWS

OAKLAND - Another blow was dealt to the A's long-term future in Oakland when the team announced just before Friday night's game it had broken off negotiations with the Joint Powers Agreement officials on a lease extension at the Coliseum.

The A's current lease expires after the 2007 season, with year-to-year club options through 2010.

In a statement, the A's said they were looking to add three additional one-year options through the 2013 season. But the JPA did not accept the team's proposal.

Should the A's fail to secure a new ballpark in Fremont -- where they have been focusing their efforts since early this year at a site controlled by Cisco Systems -- it remains to be seen where they would play in 2011.

The minimum length of time needed to build a new ballpark is three years.

"Our hope was to come to an agreement with the JPA before the end of the season," manager partner Lewis Wolff said, in a statement issued by the team. Wolff was not available to reporters.

"The adjustment we offered seemed to me to be equitable and in my mind, did not require months of delay," the statement continued. "We will expect the JPA to honor the current agreement just as we have over the years and continue to focus on finding another baseball-only venue in Alameda County."

Wolff bluntly told a San Jose audience Aug. 31 the A's would not move to their city.

No other facility exists in Northern California where a major-league baseball team could play, except the San Francisco Giants' home across the bay, which is an extremely unlikely scenario.

Because of how late the A's made the announcement, city officials could not be reached for comment.

"We are doing everything we can within reason to be responsive to the A's need for a stadium," Oakland City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente told MediaNews in June. "But we are not about to get into any competition with any city or anyone else over building a stadium."