A's Firesale Continues

[The Czech Republic 0]

Nice catch, Durazo, don't ever fucking do it again.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Zito isn't going to the Os because Flanigan/Beattie are sitting on their asses laughing at all the Os fans as they come up with these trade/free agent signings that they'll never do. The biggest thing they've done all offseason is keep BJ Surhoff.

[the max 0]

Valet: Mr. Zito, I thought you were starting tonight.

Barry Zito: I did.

Valet: Oh, sorry. I didn't tune in until the 2nd inning.

[The Czech Republic 0]

In a related story, Mo Vaughn is fat.

[Guest Smell the ratings!!!]

the Cards hold a firesale of there own.

 

*WARNING* please read this very very carefully.

 

link

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Or look at the url very carefully. Don't miss the links on the side.

[TheBigSwigg 0]

ok I'll play along

 

Board Member 1: I've never heard of half of these guys and the ones I do know are way past their prime.

Billy Beane: Most of these guys never had a prime.

Board Member 2: This guy here is dead.

Arthur Rhodes: Hey! I'm right here!

Steve Schott: Cross him off then.

Board Member 1: I've never heard of half of these guys and the ones I do know are way past their prime.

Billy Beane: Most of these guys never had a prime.

Board Member 2: This guy here is dead.

Player: I'm not dead. I feel happy! I feel hap....

*Schott hits him on the head with a bat*

Schott: Moving on...

[Bored 0]

I would have never imagined that Barry Zito would be the A's starter not traded. Beane insisted yesterday that Zito isn't going to be traded. I suppose you do have to keep one veteran starter around (you'd be looking at a 2nd year pitcher in Harden and potentially four rookies in the rotation) but I don't know how many more of his 110 pitches in six innings starts I can take. Maybe a miracle happens and he suddenly starts pitching like it's 2001 and 2002 again.

[Guest Failed Mascot]

I still think he'll be moved to the Dodgers eventually. Beane is just trying to save face publicly right now.

 

I wouldn't be surprised to see him moved for Thurston and that lefty the Dodgers have in their system. The one that's been set back by injuries but is suppose to be damn good. His name escapes me at the moment.

[Guest Smell the ratings!!!]

edwin jackson?

[Bored 0]

The plot thickens...apparantly Schott may be close to selling his share in the A's.

 

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...BAG0DAE6F01.DTL

 

There's hot talk that the Oakland A's are close to being sold to a group headed by Lewis Wolff, the megabucks Los Angeles developer whose possible emergence as a new owner was signaled last year when the team hired him to explore plans for a new stadium.

 

Wolff -- formerly a part owner of both the Golden State Warriors and St. Louis Blues hockey franchise -- isn't discounting the idea of taking over the A's, but says it's a bit early to tell how discussions will turn out.

 

"Hopefully, within 90 days we will be able to figure out what my role will be,'' he told us by phone Friday.

 

"All I can tell you is, I have an option, which has been in the papers for some time, to purchase all or part of the team," Wolff said. "And I'm exploring it in detail because I'm very interested in the A's and think it's one of the best-run teams in baseball.''

 

Of course, the option he's talking about -- at least as it was announced last year -- hinged on the A's coming up with a new stadium plan, something that's still a long, long way from happening.

 

But then, Wolff said that wasn't an issue anymore.

 

Since 1995, the A's have been owned 50-50 by home developers Steve Schott and Ken Hofmann. They bought the franchise at a discounted price far below the reported $85 million from Walter Haas -- the now-deceased patriarch of the San Francisco family that owns Levi Strauss -- with a pledge to keep the team in Oakland.

 

But the Schott-Hofmann pairing -- in which Schott served as the managing partner -- hasn't always gone smoothly, with the two often at odds over the team's direction.

 

The team is said to be worth $150 million to $170 million. It regularly turns a profit, largely because of the $12 million to $14 million it receives annually from baseball's revenue-sharing program, plus its next-to-nothing rent at the Coliseum.

 

Wolff confirmed he was negotiating to buy Hofmann's stake, but was less specific on where he stood in acquiring Schott's share.

 

However, one source following the moves predicted that Schott would be bowing out soon, or at least taking a back seat.

 

"Lew Wolff is going to be calling most of the shots now,'' said our source.

 

At the same time, Wolff confirmed that he is looking to bring on a number of partners, including John Fisher -- as in the son of Gap founder Donald Fisher. The younger Fisher is already a business partner with Wolff in a number of hotel and other real estate deals, including ownership of the San Francisco Fairmont.

 

The Fishers were among the local investors who stepped forward in 1992 to buy the San Francisco Giants when the team was on the verge of being sold to a Tampa Bay group and moved to Florida.

 

But the Fishers -- who remain prominent philanthropists in the Bay Area -- have since sold all but about 1 percent of their interest, according to baseball insiders.

 

As for what a possible change in ownership would mean for Oakland's chances of landing that long-shot stadium?

 

"I don't think it's going to make that much difference,'' Oakland City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente said when we asked about the rumored sale.

 

"We are working very closely with Lew Wolff and Steve Schott," De La Fuente said, "and we continue to be ready to try to look at the viability of building a new home for the A's.''

 

Wolff and the city have narrowed their search to the parking lot north of the Coliseum, a stadium the A's share with the Oakland Raiders. The A's have said they would contribute $100 million toward construction of a baseball-only stadium, which could cost $400 million or more.

 

But there is speculation that the team might still have its eye on part of a 65-acre site near the Oakland estuary, between Oak Street and 10th Avenue. The land, which the Port of Oakland sold last year, is slated to be developed as housing.

 

And, just last week, the City Council of baseball-hungry San Jose agreed to try to buy the former Del Monte cannery west of downtown -- 11 acres said to be worth about $26 million -- with the idea that it could be a ballpark site.

 

It was Wolff, after all, who back in 1998 suggested the A's build a stadium in San Jose, quipping: "I wouldn't spend five minutes on any other city besides San Jose.''

 

But then, as one government insider who has been watching all of the stadium moves, predicted, "We will be talking about this for years.''

[Guest Failed Mascot]

edwin jackson?

No. Edwin Jackson is a righty...now I have to go look this up.

 

*after 10min of research*

 

Greg Miller

[NoCalMike 0]

I just hope Schott sells the A's to an owner that is interested in WINNING.

[The Czech Republic 0]

To me, the A's just won't be the A's if they're not playing in that gaping concrete bowl we call the Oakland Coliseum. They can't play in a retro-facade, small-and-irregular-dimension park, it's gotta be the Coliseum.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Greg Miller is a very good prospect who unfortunately underwent TJ surgery, and missed the season. If he rebounds, he's a great pitching prospect.

[MikeJordan23 0]

I found Chavez comments funny

 

What the hell?...I don't understand. I don't know whether to be mad or shocked or what. I wasn't going to step in and say who we should keep, but I think this is getting borderline ridiculous."

--Eric Chavez, Athletics third baseman, on trading Mulder and Hudson (San Francisco Chronicle)

 

"This is a whole new revamping of a team. We just lost two of the best pitchers in all of baseball, what are we looking for? I'm totally flustered right now. Who's next? Zito?"

--Chavez (San Francisco Chronicle)

 

baseballprospectus.com

[Bored 0]

Since this thread was bumped, about the rumor the A's are about to be sold, Lewis Wolff was Bud Selig's fraternity buddy in college. The A's are screwed either way with Schott or without him. Selig wants the A's out of Oakland so looks like he'll get his buddy to do the job.

[Slovakia 0]

What the hell is so bad about Oakland for the A's, anyway? Why are Sacramento and San Jose better?

[NoCalMike 0]

Oakland fans for the most part are, how shall I say this....terrible? They barely showed up for all those playoff games. And don't give me this "well that is because they were one and done LOL" bullshit. Sacramento would GUSH over aquiring the A's but honestly I don't think this city is big enough to support a MLB team yet. San Jose seems like the logical move, but that means a longer drive for me so I sure hope the hell not.

[Slovakia 0]

There's no facility in either of those cities that could accommodate the A's. I don't think they'll move.

[NoCalMike 0]

There's no facility in either of those cities that could accommodate the A's. I don't think they'll move.

Well any bay area team can afford to build a stadium, which I would think is a major obstacle from getting them to Sacramento, where the attitude is "commit to the move first, then we will discuss a stadium" hell we are giving the Kings shit over a new stadium and they have been a winning team under the Maloofs for about five years now.

[Slovakia 0]

Enough with new buildings already. ARCO Arena is fine. Y'alls a bunch of whiners.

[Bored 0]

Sacramento isn't considered an option and the Giants hold territorial rights to San Jose so the A's can't move there. They will end up in Vegas or Portland.

 

And no I've never completely put my finger on why Selig hates the idea of the A's in Oakland beyond that he knows the city can't afford to build them a new stadium.

[Slovakia 0]

There's nothing wrong with the Oakland Coliseum. It's solid.