MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred points to city of Oakland for A’s move to Las Vegas: ‘I feel sorry for the fans’

The Oakland Athletics’ plan to move to Nevada after signing a binding agreement for land near the Las Vegas strip has not gone over well with the city’s mayor, Sheng Thao, but Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred refuted any suggestion that the organization wasn’t negotiating in good faith before deciding to move on. 

A’s president Dave Kaval announced last week that the organization agreed to purchase land in southern Nevada with plans to build a 30,000-seat ballpark with a partially retractable roof worth $1.5 billion.

The announcement was met with harsh criticism from Oakland mayor Sheng Thao who said in a statement that the move happened “mid-negotiations” and suggested that any deal to stay in Oakland was used as “leverage” for the A’s new deal in Las Vegas. 

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“The city of Oakland has for years worked to keep the A’s rooted here in the city of Oakland,” Thao said. “This announcement happened mid-negotiations, and it shows they had no interest in reaching a deal with Oakland at all. Oakland is not interested in being used as leverage with the A’s negotiations with Las Vegas.”

But during a meeting with The Associated Press Sports Editors on Monday, Manfred dismissed that notion, adding that the A’s worked exclusively with the city of Oakland from 2014 to 2021. 

“I feel sorry for the fans in Oakland. I really do,” he said. “But for the city of Oakland to point fingers at [owner] John Fisher, it’s not fair.” 

“We have shown an unbelievable commitment to the fans in Oakland by exhausting every possible opportunity to try to get something done in Oakland,” he added. “Unfortunately, the government doesn’t seem to have the will to get it done.”

The Oakland Coliseum has been the home of the A’s since 1968 when the team moved to Oakland from Kansas City. 

Manfred said Monday that he believes the move will be beneficial for the franchise. 

“Their attendance has never been outstanding, let’s put it that way,” he said.

“To me, it ought to be all positive on the competitive front,” he added. “You got really smart baseball operations people. You got owners that want to win, and I think Las Vegas will present a real revenue-enhancing opportunity. So I think you’re going to have a good product.”

Fox News’ Joe Morgan and The Associated Press contributed to this report.