High-powered player agent Scott Boras continued to question the A’s planned move to Sacramento on Thursday, citing concerns about the high heat in the area and the overall adequacy of the park for big-league players. A 20-day heat wave set a record in July.
“The city of Sacramento has to understand what major-league players, coaches, media and other owners are going to say about the city when Major League Baseball is playing at a facility that is unlike all other major-league facilities,” Boras said in an interview Thursday. “All of this risk for MLB players is created so two teams can play a season on one field all the while we have a major-league facility less than 60 miles away sitting empty. It just doesn’t seem rational if player health and safety is paramount.”
A report on a radio station in Sacramento, meanwhile, questioned whether the A’s were even coming to the city. The commissioner’s office in turn tried to settle the discourse, putting out a statement Thursday afternoon reaffirming the team will leave Oakland for Sacramento.
“It is a certainty that the A’s will play their 2025 season in Sacramento as planned,” the league said. “MLB is continuing to work productively with the MLBPA on the details of the transition.”
The A’s plan to move to Las Vegas in time for the 2028 season. Until then, the team is set to play in Sutter Health Park, home of the Sacramento River Cats, the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants.
The roughly 14,000-seat stadium is in the process of being modified to meet major-league player standards, and upgrades are being negotiated by the league office and the Major League Baseball Players Association on a rolling basis.
Boras, who grew up near Sacramento and has previously been critical of the plan in interviews with the San Francisco Chronicle and Sacramento radio station KFBK, believes one change is a big mistake: Sutter Health Park is planning to newly install a synthetic playing field for 2025, changing from the grass currently used.
“The health and safety concern of having AstroTurf at the major-league level, which creates heat in the Valley that’s often in the 100s during the summer,” Boras said.
He questioned the “impact that’s going to have on the players and their performance and their safety while playing there.”
The new surface might be more durable than grass over a full season of hosting two teams. But to Boras, the need to change the field to make the shared space work further underscored why he believes the A’s shouldn’t go to Sacramento.
Commissioner Rob Manfred said in July that the field will have a cooling element via hydration. Most games are expected to be played at night, as well.
But Boras fears even traveling between the dugout and the clubhouse could be arduous, without cover from the sun. A door down the left-field line is to be installed that allows A’s players to get to their clubhouse, as first reported by the Chronicle and confirmed to The Athletic.
“The other aspect is access to the locker rooms in-game and what kind of facilities are being built to allow players to condition and train outside of the hot sun,” Boras said. “What type of area is available is not consistent with major-league standards.
“All of this is to be reviewed by the MLBPA in advance, and I’m sure a lot of these questions will be answered upon their review, but at this point, that hasn’t happened is my understanding.”
The A’s and the Players Association declined comment Thursday.
The MLBPA does not have veto power when it comes to club relocation, people briefed on the process said. Player working conditions are the union’s responsibility, and relocation obviously produces immense change. But the union couldn’t halt the move because it finds the change suboptimal or inconvenient. The effect of the move would have to be something egregious — think endangerment — for the union to be able to halt the move, and that’s an extreme and unlikely scenario.
People briefed on the process said the league and union have worked amicably and that there isn’t a single sign-off on the plans that is being worked toward. Rather, the issues are addressed in buckets: one area in one discussion, another in the next. Construction is already underway at Sutter Health Park.
The A’s are planning to be in Sacramento for three years, but the team can stay a fourth year if the Las Vegas stadium opening is delayed until 2029.
On Tuesday, Sports Illustrated reported that if the A’s make the postseason in their time in Sacramento, their home games might not be played at Sutter Health Park — leaving open the possibility they’d play at the Giants’ home stadium, Oracle Park, or perhaps even return to the Oakland Coliseum. The A’s might not make the playoffs in the next three years, but it’s a controversial set-up for a team trying to endear itself to a new community, even if temporarily.
People briefed on the matter said nothing has been decided about a future A’s playoff home. But, hypothetically, all three parties — MLB, the A’s and the players — might be aligned in seeking a larger venue. The gate, of course, affects the revenue the A’s and the league office take in. But in the postseason, the number of tickets sold directly impacts player shares, as well.
One thing to note *hypothetically*: all three of the league, the team and the players could wind up aligned on playing an A’s postseason somewhere larger than Sacramento. Attendance obviously affects what MLB/A’s would take in, but in playoffs, it directly affects player pool too https://t.co/WRmbUnS0F4 pic.twitter.com/LJy3j13pef
— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) September 11, 2024
Meanwhile, a Nevada teachers’ political action committee fighting against the use of public money for a new A’s stadium lost a court battle last week.
“We knew going after and challenging billionaires and politicians was going to be hard,” said Alexander Marks, a spokesperson for Schools over Stadiums. “We still think the court made the wrong decision in this order.”
Marks said an appeal was being considered and that the group has other avenues to continue to fight against a bill that promised the A’s an estimated $380 million.
(Photo: AP / Rich Pedroncelli)
