The Athletics are playing all of their games for the next few years at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento while they wait for their stadium in Las Vegas to be constructed. It’s been expected from the very beginning that playing in a minor league stadium would be an adjustment for the players, and before the season began there were issues raised by the MLBPA that resulted in a brief scuffle over whether the park would have grass or synthetic turf. Even with concessions such as the use of grass, however, some players were bound to find the change jarring.
According to Brendan Kuty of The Athletic, Luis Severino is one such player. Severino has performed much better on the road this year, with a 2.27 ERA in seven road starts as compared to a 6.79 ERA in ten starts at Sutter Health Park. When asked about the discrepancy, Severino was quick to attribute it to the fact that the team gets to play in a traditional MLB stadium when on the road.
“We don’t have that at home right now,” Severino said, as relayed by Kuty. “It’s not the same. It’s not the same atmosphere. We don’t have a lot of fans. Our clubhouse is in left field. So, when we play day games, we have to just be in the sun. There’s no air conditioning there, too. It’s really tough.”
The A’s are expected to remain at Sutter Health Park through the end of the 2027 season, so conditions aren’t likely to change in the short-term. Severino signed with the A’s for three years and $67MM over the winter, and while his deal comes with an opt-out clause after the second season he’s still locked into that contract through the end of the 2026 campaign.
Given Severino’s displeasure with his home ballpark and the Athletics’ lackluster 34-51 record, it’s easy to speculate about the possibility of a trade benefiting all parties. The righty was floated as a possible trade target for the Cubs earlier this week, but there’s plenty of reason to think the A’s might be reluctant to part with Severino considering the struggles they’ve had luring high-dollar free agents into the organization previously. While most clubs would expect to be able to replace a high-dollar veteran they part with in trade via free agency the following winter, it’s not hard to imagine the A’s ballpark situation making free agent pitchers reluctant to sign there.
More from the AL West…
- Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena was out of the lineup today after getting hit by a pitch in the ribs during yesterday’s game against the Cubs, but manager Joe Espada told reporters (including Chandler Rome of The Athletic) that Pena came in today feeling better after being considered day-to-day yesterday. Espada added that Pena would receive treatment and do light baseball activities but be held out of tonight’s game. That creates reason for optimism he could be back in the lineup for the series finale on Sunday, which would be a huge boost given that Pena has put himself into the MVP conversation with a blistering first half. Mauricio Dubon has filled in at shortstop in Pena’s absence.
- Rangers outfielder Wyatt Langford was placed on the injured list due to an oblique strain yesterday, but MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry writes that both Langford himself and Rangers brass have suggested the issue isn’t a serious one. President of baseball operations Chris Young told reporters that the team having two upcoming days off on the schedule played a role in the decision to send Langford for what the club expects to be a minimum IL stint, and added that the injury was “right on the cusp” of being something they’d just rest Langford on the bench for a few days for. Langford has struggled to a lackluster .224/.286/.342 in June this year, so perhaps a ten-day reset could benefit the 23-year-old in more ways than one. Alejandro Osuna has joined Evan Carter and Adolis Garcia in the regular outfield mix while Langford is out of commission.
Anyone find it interesting that Athletics won’t used there own triple a team venue since it in las Vegas and using another MLB team triple a venue and putting them out on the road isn’t beneficial for them at all.. just maybe athletics should have made ever concessions on upgrade there own stadium for time being
Fisher has never cared about PR and will do whatever suits his needs at the moment.
The Oakland alameda county authority was responsible for capital improvements and major repairs to the Oak Coliseum and they weren’t going to invest in the facility if the team was threatening/planning to leave.
Almost every single one of their home games are night games except for a handful in April and one in September because of the excessive heat. MLB would never allow the A’s to play all night games (including sundays) and cross-country travel would be horrible with no “getaway days” to ease the red eye flights for teams coming in.
It’s because somehow they could play in Sacramento without violating their TV contract
Being at Sutter Home Health field allowed the A’s to keep there TV revenue!!!
The A’s should just move back to the Oakland Coliseum for the next two seasons.
They already burnt down their bridges with Oakland
I wish they could’ve just shared games at oracle park with the giants but the giants probably wouldn’t have allowed that to happen
At this point they would pretty much only be playing in front of Possums if they went back to the Coliseum
As an A’s fan from Oakland now living in Sac, there *is* a strong enough potential fan base here to support an actual MLB team. But it won’t happen with this situation where they’ve blew every opportunity to build some support and act like we should be on our hands & knees thanking them for being here when we’re just a fallback option for Fisher to keep TV money.
I have many more thoughts but I’ll leave it at that lol
Not having Sacramento on the jersey is reason enough NOT to go the games. Fisher has no standards for decency.
John Fisher is the quintessential MLB owner: take as much as possible while giving as little as possible.
For many other ownership groups, he’s not a scourge on the game, he is a model for them to aspire to.
Quintessential small market money grabbing owner.
Severino didn’t mind taking the A’s money (highest A’s contract). No one forced him to sign with the A’s
He knew (or should’ve known) A’s games would be played in Sacramento until Las Vegas stadium was ready.
Severino needs to quit complaining, deal with the situation & play ball. Fans don’t care
This is true. I don’t think he is cut out for any military service anywhere. $67 million worth of sadness and lack of self belief. Mets would have given him less, like the Montas deal.
I don’t think the extra year and extra $30 million is making him happy.
He went from a totally happy situation to a miserable situation and now he’s getting essentially what he signed up for.
Money grab. Misery. I see a direct relationship.
Seve said he would have come back to the Mets for 2/40M. They moved on anyway.
Was he complaining or answering a question?
Probably both. That’s fair.
When a player is honest about the crap situation ownership has created, he’s whining and complaining. When the owner puts the team in the crap situation, that’s “smart business.”
We know Fisher is a terrible owner. Don’t sign with Oakland. See Sean Manaea. He didn’t even want to hear their offer.
Choose happiness 100 times out of 100.
What’s he doing with his extra $30 million?
Somewhere on all of this the memory of an aging yet still productive Rickey Henderson comes to mind.
As the story goes, Rickey, speaking in 3rd person, leaves a message on the owners answering machine something like, “this is Rickey, Rickey still wants to play. Call Rickey back and give me a contract and I’ll be there. Rickey is ready.”
The call was made, a lower type salary was offered and a Rickey showed up and earned his contract for SD. Enjoyed getting the chance to see the tail end of his great career.
I agree with Boston’s take and find it similar to a phrase I use frequently in my business – 2 things can be true at the same time – not every 2 things have to be exclusive of each other.
He can be honestly answering a question and yet still be complaining about something that he voluntarily put himself into by taking the most money offered.
Also, because a person says something that is true, that doesn’t always have to be a judgmental comment.
It’s hot in the clubhouse because we have no AC. True but may or may not also be a judgment that ownership is at fault for causing me to play in that environment. Point being, he didn’t have to accept that contract so is it ownership that causes it or is it Severino that caused him to be there?
I think his comment in this instance was judgmental most likely, but maybe not.
None of the things Severino mentioned should effect his performance. The clubhouse being in the sun? Really? Distance of fences too short, sure. Poor field quality, sure. Those don’t seem to be mentioned, so he doesn’t feel that’s the problem. I am surprised that adding air conditioning is talked about as just not possible. That’s what the players union is there to resolve.
If Severino is so upset with the clubhouse, and is making millions, he should help himself and his team by buying some type of AC , even though ownership is too irresponsible to do so.
Emilia – until you confirm that the stadium owners / zoning, etc., are all willing to allow for AC to be installed at the cost to the A’s ownership, your take is a little premature.
Of course, cost might be a factor. Shutting down the stadium for weeks to install another slight inconvenience.
And him complaining publicly will turn off even more free agents to sign in following years until stadium situation is resolved. It doesn’t help he’s pitched lousy thus far and is highest paid player. He’s been part of pitching problem not solution
Mets could use Severino right now.
Dump Marte and Blackburn in a trade and have the A’s pay half of Severino’s 2027 salary.
Severino has about $55 million remaining at the deadline. Marte and Blackburn have about $13 million remaining on their contracts at the deadline. Mets would be taking on approximately $42 million additional salary without any contribution from the A’s.
I think something could be worked out if both teams want it to happen.
Wrong Jeremy Peña linked.
for the record in W.Sacramento — being in the sun in 104+ feels like death valley.
If you are in shade in 104+ is still scorching hot. – its dry heat
on the field in those conditions its incredibly difficult your begging for 1-2-3 innings.
and another thing Severino says about amount of fans?
The A’s have way more fans in the stands for one game now than 3-5 games combined when they were in Oakland.
Servino leaving athletics wouldn’t turn free agents off front them,they are already turn off from the situation.. athletics had to spend this off season or risk getting sued.
All players knew going in what the situation was going to be as agents do there job, the team has to sell there situation to players .
and the amount they need to spend to avoid a grievance will only keep going up each year. They can trade whoever they want, but they need to keep up with payroll regardless.
Seems that most responses target Fisher who deserves disdain but no one mentions MLB or even the Giants. I’ve followed this for 40 years. MLB did everything possible to help the Giants even when fans and public voted their demands down. They were as good as on their way to Tampa before finally building their stadium. A’s owner Walter Haas went out of his way to assist the Giants, after all Haas was longtime SFer with great love for the Giants. An under the table deal was worked out with the A’s giving up their territorial rights to SF.
Why did MLB allow this under the table and corrupt deal? MLB, Manfred and Selig screwed the A’s so badly all before Fisher arrived. The A’s challenged MLB in court and lost. If they did. Now all this is forgotten and MLB and the Giants kept their power, control and territory. If the deal that was made was so good why were so many details hidden? Trade Severino.
Maybe he should have considered that before signing his multi million dollar contract.