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Oakland A’s Howard Terminal hopes remain at impasse

By David Hill

OAKLAND, CA - MAY 07: General view of a faulty light tower in left field before the game between the Oakland Athletics and the Cincinnati Reds at the Oakland Coliseum on May 7, 2019 in Oakland, California. The Oakland Athletics defeated the Cincinnati Reds 2-0. (Photo by Jason O. Watson/Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA - MAY 07: General view of a faulty light tower in left field before the game between the Oakland Athletics and the Cincinnati Reds at the Oakland Coliseum on May 7, 2019 in Oakland, California. The Oakland Athletics defeated the Cincinnati Reds 2-0. (Photo by Jason O. Watson/Getty Images) /
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In theory, July 20 was a key day for the Oakland A’s hopes for a new ballpark. The Oakland City Council was set to vote on plans to allow the team to build at Howard Terminal, putting the 25 year quest for a new stadium one step closer. Approval would seemingly set those plans into motion.

The vote on Tuesday would seem to have been a positive. The Oakland City Council voted 6-1, with one abstaining, to approve their plans for the new ballpark.

Oakland A’s not getting what they want even with favorable vote

However, the A’s are not satisfied with that result. They have said that they cannot accept the amended offer sheet that the city council voted on, calling it a non starter. At the same time, Dave Kaval said that they will bring the proposal to Major League Baseball for analysis.

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Considering that the team is at least willing to take this proposal to the league offices, it would appear as though there is some room to negotiate. With a stadium deal of this size, and with the amount of infrastructure and improvements to the area that would be involved, there are plenty of moving parts that can be worked with.

The city has already displayed a willingness to work with the A’s. The $325 million for affordable housing had been a sticking point in the negotiations; however, the city did say that they could reimburse the team for that money. It is possible that these issues can be worked out.

But it takes two to tango. The A’s have to be willing to work with the city in order to get this to happen. To this point, they have not exactly displayed any type of interest in doing so, looking to have their demands met without any give and take. As such, even with a favorable non binding vote, the new stadium at Howard Terminal is an an impasse.

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The Oakland City Council voted in favor of a modified plan for the Oakland A’s new stadium. It is now time to compromise to make this work.