The Athletics wrap up a four-game series with the Angels tonight and are looking to take a third straight game from the Halos. Here’s more on Oakland and other items out of the Western divisions..
- The Rangers are likely to insist on a clause in any contract with Josh Hamilton that would offer them at some protection against major injury, writes Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com.
- Commissioner Bud Selig wouldn’t set a timetable for settling the territorial dispute between the A’s and the Giants but insisted that the A’s will need a new ballpark to compete, according to the Associated Press. Selig added that the last time he attended a game in Oakland, the park reminded him of County Stadium and Shea Stadium, which is “not a compliment.”
- A’s owner Lew Wolff reiterated that San Jose remains the club’s sole focus for ballpark relocation, tweets Joe Stiglich of the Bay Area News Group.
- Though A’s skipper Bob Melvin hoped to hang on to Brandon Allen, he’s happy to see the the first baseman find another opportunity with the Rays, writes MLB.com’s Jane Lee. The 26-year-old has a .205/.291/.375 line in 274 career plate appearances with the Diamondbacks and Athletics.
- The Rockies’ release of Albert Campos this week surprised Ben Badler of Baseball America as the right-hander was ranked as the club’s No. 13 prospect entering the 2011 season before dropping out of the top 30 this year. Campos originally signed with the Rockies as a 16-year-old in July of 2007. According to a source familiar with the pitcher, he was involved in a physical incident off the field.
I’ve been an A’s fan since the 80’s and live 4 hours from the Coliseum, and I wouldn’t mind if they relocated them to North Carolina. Something has to change and any decision made today won’t even help until at least three years from now. Bud, make a decision, even if it’s a bad one like moving the Astros to AL instead of your Brewers.
Oakland is the best place for the A’s in the east bay, but the city isn’t in the position to make a new stadium happen. And, sorry, San Jose is Giants territory. How many other markets would love to have the A’s? Portland, Vegas, Sacramento, Charlotte, Utah… the list goes on.
I know Oakland is a small market team and in the grand scheme of Selig’s baseball utopia they don’t matter a whole lot but to see them flounder and be disrespected for this long is disgraceful. The Athletics have a long storied history dating back to the Philly years and have been good to very good for stretches of time in between some very lean years, like the last few, but it hurts the fanbase to see how ignored they truly are. You didn’t see the Dodger’s plight get ignored like the A’s have been. (I know they are unrelated and totally different but still). I guess Bud Selig would rather keep ignoring the situation rather than step on some toes (Giants owner). Hell, maybe they will get retracted before he has to make that decision. Problem solved.
Way to promote the game in Oakland, Bud. We’ve seen this nonsense before. If the people of Oakland don’t fall for it, someone else will.
If Campos didn’t even show up why would it be a surprising about the Rockies moving on?