ANAHEIM, Calif. — Oakland Athletics co-owner Lew Wolff hinted Thursday that Major League Baseball might be attempting to broker an agreement between his team and the Giants to settle territorial rights regarding the city of San Jose.
Wolff’s comments came in light of MLB commissioner Bud Selig saying that the Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays both need new stadiums in order to be competitive.
The Athletics want to build a new ballpark in downtown San Jose, but the Giants own the territorial rights to Santa Clara County and are strongly opposed to the A’s moving there.
“I think he’s right,” Wolff said of Selig’s comments. “I think he’s focused on trying to work out something with us and the Giants. I’m happy to hear he’s saying that.”
Wolff declined to comment when asked directly if there were discussions currently taking place with the Giants. But until Thursday, he had been slow to even acknowledge the idea of possible negotiations between the teams.
The Giants’ rights to San Jose could be overturned if 75 percent of baseball’s team owners voted in favor of it. The next owners’ meetings are scheduled for May 16-17 in New York, but the A’s stadium issue is not expected to be an agenda item.
The speculation is that the A’s could also strike a financial settlement with the Giants that allows them to move to San Jose.
Selig, speaking to the Associated Press Sports Editors on Thursday, said he recently met with both clubs but did not give a timetable for any resolution.
“I’m always hopeful when there are debates amongst clubs,” Selig said. “I try to lead teams in a direction of solving their problems themselves. . . .We’ve had a lot of meetings, spent an enormous amount of time. I’ve just met with both clubs again and we’ll continue along this process.”
Selig did not mince words about the A’s needing to move from the Oakland Coliseum.
“The last time I was there — I probably shouldn’t say this, but I’ll say it anyway — it reminded me of County Stadium and Shea Stadium,” he said. “And that’s not a compliment, in either case. … You can’t ask people to compete if they have a stadium that doesn’t produce any kind of revenue to give them a chance to compete.”
Wolff was asked if he would re-consider other potential stadium locations other than in San Jose.
“No,” he replied. “We don’t see any options available. (But) the committee of baseball is really the one that should be answering that question.”
Selig formed a committee in March 2009 to research the A’s stadium options in the Bay Area, with no findings made public yet.
Andy Dolich — a sports business consultant who has held high-ranking executive positions with the A’s, 49ers and Warriors — wrote an opinion piece for the San Jose Mercury News recently in which he predicted Oakland is the best place for the A’s to build a new stadium.
