San Jose Land Deal A Sign Of Progress
By Joseph Lopez
Will We Ever Get a Cisco Field? (Photo Credit: Oaklandathletics.com)
At this point, any news regarding the A’s attempt to build a new stadium is considered good news. As reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, the A’s took a step in the right direction by acquiring a land-purchase option in San Jose. The San Jose Council voted 10-1 to approve the purchasing option for the A’s.
With the vote, the A’s have been granted a two-year option to buy the five acres of land located near HP Pavilion, home of the San Jose Sharks. The option comes with a $50,000 price tag, with the possibility of an additional $25,000 for a third-year.
This option give the A’s the exclusive rights to buy the five acres of land for $6.9 million if the team is granted the approval of MLB to relocate to San Jose. The land itself must be used to build a new stadium. Also, the team will need San Jose voters to approve any final sale of land before actually building a stadium. That’s assuming the team gets approval from MLB, though.
The A’s still need approval from Bud Selig and MLB to move to San Jose. The San Francisco Giants claim that the location of the proposed ballpark falls within the organization’s territorial rights.
The Giants are seemingly standing by this claim, but the A’s are hoping for an overruling against these territorial rights claims.
Selig, who appointed a special committee to oversee and analyze Oakland’s stadium situation, has not released a public recommendation regarding the A’s stadium options.
MLB has been tied up with other matters, including the recent issues with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The sale of the Dodgers figures to be the hot topic around this month’s owner meetings, so the A’s will probably have to wait a few more weeks before a decision is released.
Regardless of the waiting game that MLB and Selig are playing with the A’s, the news of this land-purchasing extension is definitely good news.
It’s a step forward in the right direction and one that will hopefully prove to Selig how determined the A’s and San Jose are about getting a new stadium built.
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