A's to Sacramento?

[fansinceday1]

Heard a pretty good discussion about the A's situation on ESPN radio.
A sports lawyer said that MLB anti-trust rules lacked any real teeth to keep the A's from just picking up and moving to San Jose, ala the clippers moving from SD to LA without league approval. He said all MLB would probably be able to do was take the Giants and A's to mediation to resolve their problems. Then if the Giants or MLB sue the A's, they could counter sue and tie the whole thing up in court for years, ala Al Davis. Ultimately he said the A's are only going the route they are going on right now to keep the Giants and MLB on their good side. If they decide they to go balls to the wall the giants and MLB really can't do anything about it.

 

[Larry David]

I don't think that person has all of the facts. When the Giants were getting ready to leave the Bay Area, the A's gave them the San Jose market to entice them to stay and it's actually on paper in the baseball bylaws or something like that. The Giants used the value of those rights in getting the funding for Pac Bell and it was part of the reason they took on that debt.

The A's didn't get anything back and they were trying to be fair and nice, but they made a deal knowing how it would impact the Giants contracts, values, TV deals, ect. Even if baseball can't stop them at first, the Giants would have a great case that would be over in 2-3 years and they have the time and reason to do it. That damages would be so high, the owner couldn't pay them. This is A's pr spin.