Are Athletics still Vegas bound?

And when Larry met Stanley

Good morning, all. I hope your week is off to a great start.

If you had asked me a month ago, I would have answered it was a lock the Oakland Athletics would be moving to Las Vegas. Now I am not so sure. I do believe, as long as billionaire John Fisher owns the club, the A's are moving on from Oakland.

So why the doubt? The A's-to-Vegas story has more moving parts than a slot machine. It reminds me of 1998, when the New England Patriots announced they were abandoning the Boston television market and moving from Foxboro to Hartford. Beneath all the hoopla of Hartford getting an NFL franchise, there was really nothing ironclad about the Pats relocation. There were vague, stadium plans and a site. The Connecticut state legislature even agreed to fund the facility's construction, despite an outcry from several taxpayers groups. That was more than what is being offered by the Nevada legislature, which, at the moment, has offered nothing to the A's. Still, the Patriots kept moving the goalpost in their demands. It was clear all owner Robert Kraft was doing was using Connecticut to get a better deal from Massachusetts.

Fisher is not playing one city against the other in the A's relocation. The mayor of Oakland made sure of that, when she stopped negotiating with the club, after Fisher signed a binding agreement in Vegas. What makes the Patriots and A's situation similar, however, is that like Hartford, there are no ironclad stadium plans in Vegas, just sketchy renderings.

A month ago, A's ownership announced it had signed a binding agreement to purchase property for a new stadium in Las Vegas. Two weeks later, however, they announced they had entered a deal with the owners (Bally's) of the Tropicana Hotel to build a ballpark on the Vegas strip. What happened to the previous plan? Where are the ballpark renderings? All we have heard is talk of a 30,000 seat ballpark, too small in my book for a major league stadium. 35,000 seats, maybe, but 30,000?

Meanwhile, Fisher says he will pony up $1B for the facility but he wants $395M from the Nevada legislature, which said "no" to his first request of $500M and is balking now at this latest figure. The legislature adjourns in less than a month and the clock on taxpayers' assistance is ticking faster than a pitch clock with Max Scherzer on the mound.

So what will happen? Although Oakland officials have indicated a willingness to resume negotiations, if the A’s kiss Las Vegas goodbye, it is apparent Fisher wants no part of Oakland. And to be fair, despite the outcry from the Oakland fanbase, there are legitimate questions whether the city can still support an MLB franchise; therefore, Vegas is still in the picture, if Fisher doesn't sell the club. But there are other suitors waiting in the wings. It can be argued Nashville, Portland, Salt Lake City and even Montreal have plans in place further along than Las Vegas to build a stadium for a big league team. (I am not counting Orlando here, because the group in that city wants the Rays.) Who is to say one of those cities won’t step up to the plate and reach out to Fisher, if his efforts in Vegas come up snake eyes?

My point is there is more to this picture than Oakland and Las Vegas. My gut feeling is, as long as Fisher owns the A's, their Oakland days are numbered. It's just not a sure bet their next destination will be Las Vegas.

Speaking of Vegas...

Oddsmakers in Las Vegas had the Boston Celtics and LA Lakers as locks to meet in the NBA Finals, thus renewing their fierce rivalry. As of this writing, both the Celtics and Lakers trail in their conference finals to Miami and Denver, respectively, 3-0. The deficit is not stopping ESPN's analytics department. It still had Boston favored over Miami, even after the Heat won the first two games. The numbers gurus at ESPN now give the Celtics a 31 percent chance to make the finals. No team, trailing 3-0 in an NBA playoff series, has ever come back to win that series. Don’t expect it to happen now.

When Larry met Stanley

Finally, I leave you with this video.

That is it for this week’s newsletter. There will not be a newsletter next week, but the next edition will be published on June 6. I may drop a podcast or two in the interim. Remember, next Monday is Memorial Day in the USA. Never forget those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom. Have a terrific week and thank you for subscribing to the newsletter.

Sportscaster Dan