The lawsuit between the city of San Jose and Major League Baseball passed an important stage today, as the federal judge hearing the case dismissed all but one claim made by the city. San Jose can now proceed only on its remaining count (tortious interference with contract) and/or appeal the court's ruling that baseball's antitrust exemption remains intact.
If you are interested in learning the details of the rulings on each of the particular legal theories, I recommend this post from Wendy Thurm of Fangraphs. Thurm also well explains what today's ruling means in terms of the leverage that the city can exercise against the league. While the city continues to try and force MLB to decide whether to permit the Athletics to move out of Oakland and into San Jose, its remaining claim provides a relatively weak platform.
There are still plenty of battles to be had, including especially the timing of any appeal and the timing and scope of discovery (i.e., the exchange of documents and witness testimony that the city, in particular, will hope to extract). MLB got rid of the scariest claims, at least pending appeal. On the other hand, San Jose will now have the chance to try and use its remaining theory as a basis to dig into MLB's internal processes regarding the A's prospective move.
