A’s Aim To Be Like The Marlins

Those Miami Marlins are making quite the splash so far this offseason. They’ve secured a brand-new venue and have locked up free agents Jose Reyes and Mark Buehrle. Things are looking good in Miami right about now.

Things in Oakland, however, remain ever so dim. The Athletics, a team coming off yet another sub-par season, are stuck in the aging, crumbling, and confining O.co Coliseum. The team’s lack of a new venue is making it extremely difficult for Billy Beane & Co. to prepare for the franchise’s future.

MLB and Commissioner Bud Selig have spent the last three years or so analyzing the A’s stadium issues. The A’s still, however, have yet to hear the thoughts of the league or Mr. Selig. Both parties have yet to deal their recommendations for the A’s bid for a new stadium in San Jose, a territory that the San Francisco Giants contend is within the team’s territorial rights.

While the Marlins are finally opening up their wallets and making some serious noise in the free agent market, Oakland remains strapped for cash without much wiggle room financially. Beane, essentially, is being forced to make do with what he’s got, which isn’t much, by the way.

Oakland will likely embark on yet another rebuild phase, with Beane’s players drawing strong interest among other teams this winter. All-Star pitcher Gio Gonzalez, easily Oakland’s best pitcher for the past two seasons, is drawing a lot of interest from teams this offseason.

Among the long list of potential suitors, the Philadelphia Phillies, Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, and the Marlins all figure to be possible destinations for Oakland’s young southpaw.

The A’s are pretty much listening to offers for all of their players, which seems to suggest that Beane is planning to build towards 2015 or 2016. Beane has stated before in the past that he expects the league’s decision regarding the San Jose situation to be delivered soon, and he remains optimistic about his team’s chances at getting a new venue in San Jose.

Securing a new venue, without question, would help the franchise tremendously. Look no further than the Marlins. The Marlins are coming out aggressively during these early winter months, with their new venue serving as the motivation behind the team’s big spending.

You only get one debut opener, and the Marlins are doing everything they can to make sure the opening of their new stadium will be one to remember.

The A’s cannot continue in their current venue, though. They need a new ballpark soon before the franchise sinks even further into irrelevancy. Oakland, in my mind, would probably like to follow the Marlins’ blueprint. They’ve secured a new ballpark and its injected new life into a franchise that wasn’t doing all that well.

It’s about time MLB and Selig start recognizing the Athletics and all of their rich history. According to rumors, the A’s could get a decision soon, with Selig set to meet with Giants officials soon. A decision could be made within the coming months.

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