Billy Beane from Oakland Athletics has confirmed that the A’s are now in full rebuild. At the same time, however, he announces better times, which are linked to one condition – a new stadium.
Beane, the A’s Vice President of Baseball Operations, told reporters on Sunday that after the trades of Sean Doolittle and Ryan Madson, the team is now in full rebuild. The trade “fits perfectly in the direction in which we are going,” says Beane.
“We must be disciplined with a rebuild, especially when it comes to how we are aligned with society, when it comes to a new stadium. There is only one way to successfully open a new stadium and that is with a good young team,” said Beane, who underlined that the franchise under his leadership “was never really prepared for a full rebuild”.
Beane admitted that he has had to break up the squad of his team, which is based in a rather small market, more than once, but this time the philosophy will be different. “What’s really been missing for the last 20 years is that we couldn’t keep the good players. We need to change this story by building a good team and ultimately keeping the players so that people buy tickets.”
However, Beane made it clear that the team owners had given him the assurance to keep the players in the future as soon as the new stadium was ready. “The owners of the team assured me that we will”, so that the team will be on a similar high level as the new venue.
According to media reports, the A’s, which have been based in Oakland Alameda County Coliseum since 1968, are concentrating on three locations for a new ball park. The favourite of the A’s is therefore a 13 acre plot of land in the city, which is currently home to the headquarters of the Peralta Community College District. The mayor of Oakland, Libby Schaaf, sees Howard Terminal north of Jack London Square in front, while another possibility is a new building on the Coliseum property.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred also stated last week at the All-Star Game that the A’s, whose new owner John Fisher was officially confirmed as head of the owner group last November, want to identify a property as their preferred target by the end of the year.