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OAKLAND, Calif. – Billy Beane still strongly believes the Athletics will get a new stadium in Oakland, and he intends to stick around with the team until then.
Beane, the club’s executive vice president of baseball operations, said Monday he has ambitions to stay with the A’s for as long as they want him to be.
The Boston Red Sox and New York Mets have shown interest in Beane in recent years, but he’s committed to the A’s. He made the decision despite struggling with financial restrictions and the inability to keep star players when they are due to receive big pay rises.
“Look, at some point we’ll have a new stadium and that’s what makes me happy. Hopefully it will be during my term, Beane said with a laugh. But we will, and I think the organization and the city deserve it. It will happen. »
A’s owner John Fisher and team chairman Dave Kaval are working on a baseball stadium project near Jack London Square.
“The one thing I know about our quest for a new stadium is that from the start with Dave and John Fisher, they’ve been obsessed with the plan and it’s not easy,” Beane admitted.
The A’s, who have suffered 102 losses, finished 29-51 at home this season and drew 787,902 fans during the campaign. In the 2019 season, the last before the pandemic, 1,662,211 fans attended an A’s game.
In May 2021, Major League Baseball asked A’s leaders to explore relocation possibilities if no agreement was reached for a new stadium. Kaval said the club was working on “side” projects in Oakland and Las Vegas.
The A’s are the last professional team still in Oakland after the NBA’s Golden State Warriors moved to San Francisco and the NFL’s Raiders moved to Las Vegas.
The A’s lease on their aging stadium will end after the 2024 season, and Major League Baseball has said a reconstruction at the current site isn’t a viable option.
