Oakland Athletics’ Ownership: For Love of Power
A Tongue-in-Cheek Look At Why the Oakland Athletics’ Payroll Consistently Ranks Among MLB’s Lowest
Oakland Athletics’ fans, let’s all take a moment to listen to the O’Jays’ classic funk song, ‘For the Love of Money’.
Like the O’Jays sing, “Don’t sell your soul for the money.”
More from White Cleat Beat
- Zach Logue yet another disappointing Oakland A’s trade return
- Luis Barrera heading to familiar foe in Los Angeles Angels
- Looking back at Ruben Sierra with the Oakland A’s
- San Francisco Giants showing Oakland A’s offseason could be worse
- Lucas Luetge what Oakland A’s need in bullpen
Lew Wolff and John Fisher are co-owners of the Oakland Athletics. Out of all of the owners in Major League Baseball, John Fisher is the fifth-richest owner in the league. Fisher’s net worth is a ridiculous 2.2 billion dollars, while Wolff is a billionaire himself. That means that not having enough money is not the issue with these two.
On the baseball side of things, Wolff is the one who shows his face to the public, while Fisher lives behind the scenes. It is very peculiar that he never shows his face, but even more odd is the fact that two billionaires refuse to use any of their own money to keep players in Oakland because they ‘cant afford’ long term contracts. Ponder that!
Everyone thinks it is about money when elite MLB owners are stingy when it comes to handing over the cash for long-term contracts, but maybe it is really about power instead. Maybe, they just crave power like a fat kid craves pie. For example, the Giants’ owner will not give up the territory rights that would allow the A’s to move to San Jose because it would hurt them financially – but what if it’s also because it gives the Giants’ power and control over the situation? Think about it. According to Tim Kawakami’s post from the Mercury News, Fisher and Wolff are profiting from the A’s every year through revenue sharing. Lack of money has never been the issue and never will be. The power struggle might be the real driving force for the owners.
Conspiracy theorists know that there is always something deeper happening than what the public knows. Consider this: if the A’s are bad for a number of years and continue to post losing records, who other than us diehard A’s fans will fight for them to stay? Moreover, if the A’s continue to lose, won’t it be easier to move the team out of Oakland and to San Jose, where the owners want to move them? If the Oakland Athletics’ don’t spend money, they can’t sign long-term deals for great players. If they can’t sign long-term deals for great players, it will be very hard for them to win. And if they don’t win, casual fans will stop caring, and the people will lose, as the billionaire owners get what they want – a move to San Jose.
Next: Team Defects Are Costing Sonny Gray the Cy Young Award