Oakland A?s Finally Have a Shot at San Jose as Mayors Unite to Break Free From San Francisco Giants? Control

Rather than the several hours to Las Vegas, the Oakland Athletics could have relocated less than an hour away to San Jose. Since owner John Fisher announced the news, baseball fans have been in an uproar. The rollercoaster of performances from the team has only added to the chaos. While the A’s had a solid winning streak, they again started losing more games than winning. Dwindling attendance numbers?have yet to help their case either. Nevertheless, San Jose could have been a good opportunity if not for the San Francisco Giants.

But the Californian city is not ready to give up its chance to have an MLB team just yet, as a recent letter to the MLB Commissioner proves.

After losing the Oakland Athletics opportunity, San Jose mayors appeal to MLB

Expansion teams have quickly become popular, with more and more cities itching for a major sports team to boast about. For San Jose, the Giants currently hold jurisdiction over baseball decisions. The A’s wanted to stay close to home once before, but their attempts could have been more successful. Now, the city is appealing to MLB with the help of past mayors.

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Sam Liccardo, Chuck Reed, Ron Gonzales, and Tom McEnery joined hands with the current mayor of San Jose, Matt Mahan, to?write a letter to MLB.?“We’ve reached out to the commissioner to express our strong belief that San Jose should no longer be the only major American city in any professional sport to be legally barred from hosting a team,”?said Mahan.?“This is a timely request given the A’s impending departure and with increasing interest in MLB expansion,“ he added.

Incidentally, the letter was sent on the same day that the Nevada Gov. approved public funding for the A’s new ballpark. Surprisingly, the last relocation attempt to San Jose received more support. But could this mean yet another relocation from Vegas to San Jose?

When did the A’s first attempt to move to San Jose?

According to The Mercury News, the Oakland team first set its sights on Silicon Valley in the 2000s. However, then-owner Walter Haas agreed to vote for the Giants if they ever decided to come to San Jose. While they ultimately built their ballpark in San Francisco, they still hold the rights. “While Haas apparently conceded those rights without any legal consideration, the Giants have exploited Haas’ goodwill to the detriment of everyone else in MLB,”?the mayors wrote in the letter.

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Well, San Jose doesn’t want to be looped in with its northern neighbor, and fans eagerly want baseball in their city.