Rob Manfred crushed San Jose's hopes of landing an MLB franchise
Just a few days ago, current Mayor of San Jose Matt Mahan along with some other mayors from years past sent a letter to Rob Manfred in which they called him and the MLB out.
The letter, obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle, "makes a case for San Jose as a legitimate site for a future MLB team," wrote John Shea for the SFC back then.
Mayor Mahan, on behalf of San Jose, was "urging Major League Baseball to suspend territorial rights to the South Bay and pave the way for an expansion team in San Jose."
In a different letter snatched by The Mercury News and discussed Tuesday by the outlet, Manfred thanked San Jose "for its interest in a team," though the MLB commissioner lost no time in adding that "at least until [the A's relocation to Las Vegas] is complete, we are not in a position to take any other actions with respect to the territories in Northern California or to consider the possibility of expansion.”
In response to that message, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan told The Mercury News that he "understands MLB’s call for patience," although he also made clear to the media outlet that he "is not ready to accept inaction in the long run."
"We’re going to keep pushing and eventually break through," started Mahan. "This is unfair and arbitrary. It is not good for baseball fans. And it is not good for baseball owners,” the Mayor finished.
As Shea explained in his original report for the SF Chronicle, the Giants were "granted territorial rights to Santa Clara County in 1990" and that has stayed the same ever since. In turn, no other city from the area can acquire and establish a baseball franchise of its own.
That means that Mahan and San Jose as a whole are, at least for now, blocked from landing an MLB franchise whether that's the A's if they don't end up in Las Vegas or an expansion team getting created from thin air,
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