As the 2023 regular season continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. Nevada legislature to hold special session on A’s stadium deal:
As reported by Mick Akers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Nevada governor Joe Lombardo issued a proclamation last night that convened a special session of the Nevada state legislature to reconsider SB509, the bill that, if passed, would approve roughly $380MM in public funding for an MLB ballpark in Las Vegas. The special session, which is set to begin 12pm CT, has no specified end time. Per Akers, that means the session could extend beyond today, if necessary to reach a conclusion on the bill.
Failure to get the bill through the Nevada legislature would be a major setback for A’s ownership, as the club will lose its status as a recipient of revenue-sharing if it fails to secure a stadium deal prior to January 15. Success, on the other hand, would remove what appears to be the most significant remaining roadblock as A’s ownership plans to move the team to Las Vegas, though plenty of other, smaller roadblocks would remain.
2. Yankees to place Judge, Cortes on the IL today:
The Yankees plan to place both left-hander Nestor Cortes and outfielder Aaron Judge on the injured list today. Right-hander Randy Vasquez is expected to be called up to take the ball in Cortes’ stead during tonight’s game against the White Sox, though it’s as of yet unknown who will replace Judge on the active roster. Outfielder Franchy Cordero, infielder Oswald Peraza, and catcher Ben Rortvedt are the only Triple-A hitters on the 40-man roster at the moment.
It’s been a difficult season to this point for Cortes. The lefty has struggled to a 5.16 ERA that’s 18% worse than league average by ERA+ over 59 1/3 innings of work. Judge, on the other hand, has followed up his AL MVP-winning campaign with another strong performance, slashing .291/.404/.674 so far in the 2023 season. While Judge’s 188 wRC+ leads the majors, he’s been limited to just 49 games so far this season between his current toe issue and a hip strain earlier in the season.
3. Syndergaard starts as rotation decision looms:
The Dodgers are expected to welcome left-hander Julio Urias back into the rotation in the near future, meaning one of the club’s five current starters figures to depart the rotation. Veteran ace Clayton Kershaw and right-hander Tony Gonsolin are both secure in their rotation spots, leaving a spotlight on veteran right-hander Noah Syndergaard along with youngsters Bobby Miller and Michael Grove headed into the weekend.
Miller has been dominant since receiving the call to the majors, with a 1.06 ERA in three starts. Grove has been hit hard this season, though his 8.14 ERA is skewed by a nine-run meltdown that preceded a stint on the injured list beginning in late April. He returned with improved velocity earlier this week, fanning a season-high seven batters with no walks but still yielding four runs in five innings. Syndergaard has struggled to a 6.54 ERA and 5.23 FIP in 11 starts with the Dodgers after signing on a one-year deal with the club this past offseason. As he fights to keep his spot in the rotation, the veteran right-hander will be tasked with handling a hot Reds team that managed to come back from an 8-3 deficit just last night to beat the Dodgers 9-8.
“$380MM in public funding” = Free cash for the rich from those who attack “Socialism” for the poor. If taxpayer cash is going to be given away to a few rich guys the taxpayers should own what they pay for — the team. No more socialism for the rich!
The $380MM is the cheese in the mousetrap to get them to choose Las Vegas.
If they don’t offer up the cheese, the mice might go elsewhere.
We hear the same argument about the Olympics, how the billions invested will transform host cities. It rarely happens, and only when the cities make very careful long-term plans to re-purpose facilities (see Atlanta or LA). I’m very skeptical that hundreds of millions in taxpayer money going to a major league team will enhance the economic environment of any city in the US.
Now Ted, stop that thinking at once. It’s 100% incorrect. You’re making stuffy billionaires everywhere sweaty and nervous with those sort of words being used together like that.
Use more words together like Viable Communities, Affordable Housing, Jobs Creation, A Better Tomortow, Economic Growth, and these stadiums create l places for families of all races can live together in harmony and peace.
Then you let them go elsewhere while investing all that money into schools and libraries and social services, so that your city can actually be a thriving community where people organically want to live.
While I understand your thoughts, it’s not that simple.
Las Vegas is a unique situation, but generally an MLB team and new ballpark increases land values around it, businesses, provides revenue to the city, provides new jobs.
This will all happen here as well, but at a smaller impact since Vegas receives much of that already.
Still, there is benefit to a city and legitimate reasons to use tax money toward a stadium. It needs to be a partnership that is not too heavy in favor of either tax payers or ownership.
Most if not all of what you claim has been debunked time and again. Jobs? Do you mean selling burgers and parking cars? Increases land value? Provides revenue to cities? Evidence would be nice.
@Ray…, @JPR, you are 100% correct. Too many times business owners and their mouthpieces spout the same misinformation again and again. Would like to see this fail and then the A’s lose their revenue sharing as well. Maybe that will incentivize the money grubbing owner to get rid of the club.
Yep, it supplies jobs. You know those jobs Americans just won’t do. The jobs that are beneath the American way of life. Those entry level jobs where you work yourself of through experience, hard work and dedication.
A) those jobs don’t really exist anymore, you might wanna get with the times
B) these stadiums do not supply a significant amount of those jobs. Construction work gets done no matter which project. Stadium service workers are temps who are contracted by larger companies, who can contract them out elsewhere. New dining/nightlife/hotel revenue does not happen, as measured by actual economic statistics.
All the “new revenue” these projects provide is just shuffled around from somewhere else on the ledger. It’s a shell game.
MLB to the A’s: The beatings will continue until morale improves! They have cut costs (including payroll) due to their stadium situation. How does cutting revenue sharing make things better? It takes two to tango, and the A’s need a municipality that will support them.
you mean part time jobs for side income or retirees?
The A’s employ 200 people in Oakland. That is about how many they will employ in Las Vegas. The most any team employs is around 300 and those teams actually have 40k plus fans show up.
How many people travel to and ‘get’ a hotel room, and eat?
Big bidness ownes the hotel.
Sure service workers. You are rightt! Prove. Prove, that as a teacher
life will improve. 75% of kids are at risk.
Big money people, need more. Lose their soul. Tatters in the psychic
breeze. Who wants to know?
Less than 10% of people attending other professional sports events in Las Vegas traveled there from outside of Nevada. The A’s have completely dismantled any remaining loyalty from their fans, so its going to be locals that are buying 90+% of the tickets there. They don’t stay in hotels. They don’t even go to the strip if they can avoid it or unless they work there.
Most legitimate economic data thoroughly disputes all of those claims actually. The “studies” cited in support of public funding of stadiums are equivalent in truthfulness to the climate or smoking studies funded by Exxon or Philip Morris.
Yep. And too often politicians will still do that lopsided deal because it’s a temporary feather in their caps where they’ll be well out of office by the time things turn sour.
The commissioner works for and at the behest of the owners, not us.
They do the deal because the team owners bribe them — excuse me I mean “finance their political campaigns while regaling them with other unofficial perks”
“but generally an MLB team and new ballpark increases land values around it, businesses, provides revenue to the city, provides new jobs.”
Studies that have shown that cities are much better off not spending money on massive stadiums. The rate of return for stadiums is worse than if they’d spent the money on other projects.
stlouisfed.org/publications/regional-economist/apr…
It boggles my mind that ordinary citizens defend wasting public money on enriching the businesses of the mega rich. John Fisher inherited his wealth from his parents. He asked the city of Oakland for huge handouts and when they said no, he purposely destroyed his baseball team to facilitate a move to another team, where he is again asking for huge handouts.
Fisher can afford to build his own stadium. If he can’t handle running his business, he should sell it to someone who can.
Astro that is 100% incorrect. New ballparks are a net loss for the community as a whole. That small area where its built is sometimes changed, but its not an influx of money into the area. Its the same money that was already being spent being spent in the ballpark district instead.
SB509 didn’t make it out of the finance committee in the Nevada senate because they thought the numbers didn’t add up. It never made it to the floor of the Senate or to the Assembly at all.
The A’s have been a penny pinching nickel hugging franchise for too long. A move to Las Vegas would be great and they should be able to get off the revenue recipient list for good. I haven’t been keeping up on their move but hopefully new ownership goes with it. They seem to spend the bare minimum every year, which won’t fly in LV. I really hope they move so I will have an MLB team less than an hour away when I finally move permanently to Nevada this fall. That being said $380m seems like it wouldn’t be too much of an obstacle for an MLB team. I don’t understand why they always chase public funds for their stadiums and keep most or all of the profits. I would think a bond drive would raise most/all of the money while allowing members of the public that choose to chip in the opportunity. Then again it’s the A’s we are talking about, MLB’s charity case. I know it’s a pipe dream. We will keep footing the bill for these stadiums and paying twice what we should on our cable bills so a few lucky athletes can make $40 million a season while looking at us in disgust (I’m talking about you specifically career backup Chris Stewart) when we ask for a pic or an autograph.
The move to Las Vegas would lower the A’s revenue. The TV deal would be much smaller than the $60 million they are getting this season. The TV market is 1/4 the size of the Bay Area. Their TV deal would be commensurate with the size of the market. Think smallest in baseball.
The ballpark being proposed would have a max capacity of 30k and they won’t sell out many games. Their attendance will likely be around what it was in Oakland pre-COVID. No increase in revenue there.
For at least 3 years they will be playing in a minor league park that has a max capacity of 10k. Howard Hughes corporation owns the ballpark, parking and concessions. The A’s would get only a cut of ticket sales, not 100%, and would actually have to pay a higher annual lease for 2025 and 2026 than they do now in Oakland, Add in the estimated $11 million in stadium improvements they would have to make to bring it up to MLB standards.
Its more like $500 million and its a mega-Tif which is not allowed under current Nevada law. fieldofschemes.com/2023/04/24/19883/as-seeking-meg…
Thor and Nestor are both cooked
Thor is burnt to a crisp. Nestor is pretty well done, but might be decent in a sandwich for a couple more years if he figures out how to get through the lineup a 3rd time.
@Niceee- nothing could be further then the truth. Nestor has been hurting for a while now. Now we’re taunting injured pitchers? Ridiculous.
Chill grumpy gus it was a joke. His ceiling was never that high, he overperformed. I love him but that’s the truth
@Not so Niceee-Regardless, Cortes should be fine, if he can get healthy. Nestor’s stuff is good enough, when at full strength except him to be an All-Star. He hasn’t over performed either. Nestor is as advertised.
Believe it or not I hope you’re right, steak jokes aside. His stuff was good enough last year to be an all star. Arm issues aside it seems hitters have figured him out. His stuff is good, but not objectively dominant, and I think he needs to make some big adjustments to get to that level again, if that’s attainable.
Nestor may have a shot at returning, but I doubt if he will ever be an effective starter again. Syndergaard? He is toast.
@websoulsurfer- ok, we’ll see. But if Nestor is better you’ll come back and say your wrong? Yeah doubt it!
I will keep an eye out for his return. If he can put up a 3.00 ERA or lower the rest of the season, I will be happy to eat crow. Yankees fans will be happy to serve it to me.
> meaning one of the [Dodgers] five current
> starters figures to depart the rotation.
Send all 5 of them down! Win the Triple-A National Championship!
If only their AAA was already 41-17 with a 9 game lead…
I see 17 losses! No more! We win them all.
Hey! That AAA title belongs to the major league White Sox!
Dodgers have proven that having the best record doesn’t equal a WS win. Would be willing to bet that is the case at all levels.
Studies of the impact that public spending on behalf of privately-owned professional sports teams indicate they are generally net-negative. What this comes down to for Nevada/LV is whether they want to give money away for other reasons than pure economics. I’m pretty skeptical of taxpayer subsidies, but what I’d be worried about here is more A’s Ownership. They’ve put on what could be a historically bad product this year to save money. Why does anyone have confidence they will commit resources when the team moves over to LV?
Fisher needs to sell the team. He is just a carpet bagger who wants free money since he has wasted his inherited fortune.
I’m surprised MLB hasn’t pushed harder to make that happen–instead, they are just subsidizing terrible play. And MLB loves it with the taxpayers pony up—why would they want the A’s with this ownership be their calling card the next time an established team wants public money, either to move or stay in place. It’s weird
Its says more about owners and MLB. They do not want to be held responsible for their actions. they feel entitled to more money and no loyalty to the fans. Why should fans be loyal to a team when the team feels they are not loyal for years of support.
Good point. Most Owners are incredibly wealthy men and used to having their own way. It was probably part of their success in the first place—the refusal to accept limits, their sense that special rules apply to them. There are times where Owners are also fans, and are committed to put on a good product, but most are businessmen first. A smart owner likes to have an active fan base that turns out, buys stuff, etc, but an alternate way of running a team is to pinch pennies, knowing you have a captive audience and checks coming in from MLB.
The takeaway at this point where Syndergaard is concerned is that the hypnotherapy didn’t work. Still many options remaining: NLP, acupuncture, spellcasting, quantum jumping – something’s bound to stop the sucking.
A mani pedi could help put the nail in his coffin.
Since they recently engaged in a small trade, the Yankees should trade for Tapia. Just don’t send Franchy back who should be removed from NY’s 40 man roster.
Being right up against the Cohen tax line, they won’t do it with Tapia’s remaining salary.
Franchy would’ve been long gone if Bader and Judge didn’t miss games.
I actually like Tapia for a 4th OF role.
Dodgers need to end the Syndergarbage experiment, it has failed miserably! Time to cut bait (swallow the 13 mil) and move on!
Syndergaard is done. He even believed the high octane velocity “I’d still in there “. It is not and never coming back. Injuries took their toll. He’ll now bounce around on minor league deals for the next few years before retiring.
1. Move the team to Mexico City.
2. Oh, no! Big toe got a Boo Boo!
3. DFA Syndergaard. He’s done. I will admit I was wrong on him.
Seems to me that Syndergaard has earned a DFA.
Which will come in handy when the Mets need to sign a pitcher off the scrap heap.
Why is it MLB owners want tax payers to build new stadiums instead of using their money? Other sport owners pay for their own stadium. We need a real commissioner that has the guts to stand up to weak owners like Fisher.
The Buffalo Bills got the state of New York to finance a new suburban stadium because Gov. Kathy Hochul lives in the Buffalo area.
That area could use the money for more important things than luxury boxes for politicians. Its a shame these owners think tax money is their personal ATM.
The Bills stadium has been in negotiations since long before Hochul was governor. One of my former attornies is lead counsel for ECSC and he has been part of trying to get that done for 7 years. Not sure if they were trying to get it done before they brought him on board.
The State of NY is contributing $300 million to that project. youtu.be/7_PR6JhFqdg
Wait – you think the commissioner would oppose money going to the teams to build stadiums? It’s basically MLB policy to coax as much money from each city/state as possible, to keep the engine pumping out cash! Why would the league want to stop money flowing to their construction projects?
The league might want to stop the optics of a bloodsucking leech like Fisher getting rewarded with hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer money that otherwise would have gone to education after he purposely killed a storied team and turned it into a historically bad one all while pocketing $60 million per year of profit from other owners money.
Do you know anybody who returned their COVID stimulus check because they were already remote working and the office changes didn’t really impact them?
Do you complain when the government suggests lowering your tax rate?
Right now, governments are forking out money to lure or keep major professional sports franchises. Owners want to make money. If somebody is willing to give them money, they’re going to ask for it.
If your real question is “why do owners feel entitled to taxpayer money to build stadiums” the stadiums are often not owned by the teams. They’re often owned by the public. Take US Bank Stadium. It’s owned by the Minnesota Sports Authority. Target Field is owned by the Minnesota Ballpark Authority, etc.
The city gets an asset, the team gets funding and just as importantly, a way to negotiate assistance in the future.
The Coliseum is NOT owned by the Oakland Athletics. The Coliseum is owned by the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority.
Watching Thor pitch after the surgery vs prior seems to show him holding back a bit on his delivery/follow through. Almost feel he’s conservative to letting it loose because of the surgery. Unfortunately for him, he’s a thrower and not a pitcher.
He was awfully effective last year throwing 94mph fastballs for a “thrower.” No longer elite by any means, but he was certainly worth a rotation spot. Syndergaard has seemingly abandoned his slider in favor of a cutter this year and it’s not seemingly working.
Manfred & Fisher just got put on notice in regards to negotiation tactics and MLB’s anti-trust exemption:
acrobat.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds…
twitter.com/BrodieNBCS/status/1666501718304239616
In Nevada the Governor calls the session but the Senate Majority Leader and the Speaker of the Assembly decide what bills get considered. They have been quoted as saying only CIP and education funding will be addressed.
Governor Lombardo is grandstanding, knowing that the stadium is overwhelmingly unpopular. This way he can tell his big money backers that he tried but the legislature killed it, not him.
Gavin Stone being terrible, and the Urias, May, and Ryan Pepiot injuries have led to Syndergaard getting additional run. But I don’t think they’ll DFA him. Probably throw him in the pen for an inning here and there.
But Syndergaard not withstanding, the Dave Robert’s “five and dive” strategy only works when he has a decent pen. It’s been rough to watch this year. They already have 9 losses when scoring 5+ runs in a game and 6 of those losses where when they scored 6+ runs. By far, this is the worst in the majors.
I just tracked down a Pepiot update. So he went down with an oblique issue in spring training, had the notorious “setback” while rehabbing last month, and now is not expected back until after the ASB. I played baseball for many years, and at the time we referred to it as a pulled muscle which resolved itself within a week or two. I’m not a doctor, but I just can’t fathom an injury like that sidelining anyone for 4+ months.
yean, something seems strange about it. Even he thought it was pretty minor at the time.
If you’re a democrat….you’re an idiot.
If you’re a Republican….you’re a moron.
I dare you all to be your own person.
Barbara Lee is not playing. This could cost MLB their anti-trust exemption.
twitter.com/BrodieNBCS/status/1666501718304239616
Barbara Lee is one of 435 members of the House of Representatives. Her threat is empty and would be directly opposed by her counterpart in Nevada.
Martras, you do know that of the 4 congresspersons from Nevada, Titus, Amodei, and Lee, have been quoted as against the stadium funding, right?
Barbara Lee is a candidate for the US Senate to replace Senator Diane Feinstein, who is retiring.
And, she has clout in the House and the Democratic Caucus.
So, Lee could cause MLB some serious problems.
I lived and worked in Las Vegas for 12 years in the late 80s and all through the 90s. Nevada is essentially a company town. The casino resorts get what the casino resorts want. Given that this is still being debated and has not yet been either rubber-stamped or turned down outright, I have to think that the big casino resort players are indifferent. If they saw MLB as something they’d benefit from, the legislation would have already passed. If they saw MLB as a threat, this all would have been DOA. Since this is ongoing with a special session called, my guess is that Big Casino is relatively indifferent. Which, if true, should tell you something about the real economic impact of moving the A’s to LV.
Casino Owners are basically big corporations now.
A MLB baseball stadium in the Middle of the Las Vegas strip
is not good for Casino Owners.
Any fans holed up in a baseball stadium for hours stadium ARE NOT SPENDING MONEY IN THE CASINOS….And, that is all that the Casinos care about…making their money $$$$ every day.
Anything that gets in the way of that is competition to the Casino Owners.
Do the numbers,’
If 20,000 plus people are in the baseball stadium it means:
They are not at the gaming tables or the slots LOSING MONEY TO THE HOUSE. Their customers are not spending money on entertainment and live shows.
And, those people have already eaten their major meal and drank their booze.
If it was me, then I would be heading over to my room and maybe go for a swim in the pool and not gambling that day…
So, Casino Owners see 20,000 to 30,000 people spending one less day (every game day).
When the team is in town, then that is a heckava lot of people being redirected to a baseball game daily and out of the Casinos to spend their cash!
filling up their money coffers in the Casinos when they plan a “game day”..
I am not seeing how this A’s stadium proposal in Las Vegas helps
Casino Owners and their revenues?!
The A’s Owner needs Las Vegas more than Las Vegas needs the A’s.
The Raiders are 30th in NFL attendance and not drawing fans like they projected and promised.
Heckava lot of fans in a baseball stadium not spending their money in the casinos every game day 81 days per year?!
Do the numbers.
It is millions of dollars walking down the street into the hands of a competing business.
Casino Owners will not be happy with that!
Those pitchers that top out at 89 never last too long.
No vote yet on the stadium. They are still taking public testimony which has been overwhelmingly negative.. You can listen live on YouTube.
Still no vote on the stadium.
This is brutal.
twitter.com/CaseyPrattABC7/status/1666597681211523…
twitter.com/BizballMaury/status/166682069705700967…
Supposed to be back in session at 11:30 am but still nothing on their YouTube channel
twitter.com/CaseyPrattABC7/status/1666815048495542…
OMG, this is hilarious. Fisher was not even AT the special session. He was in Alameda touring the Raiders old practice facility that is for sale.
twitter.com/CaseyPrattABC7/status/1666880710731526…
This article from CBS Sports smashes Fisher.
cbssports.com/mlb/news/john-fisher-is-redefining-s…
The Assembly has adjourned until Monday. This is not looking good for the A’s.
Interviews I have seen and read show that Las Vegas fans DO NOT WANT TO PAY FOR OR SUBSIDIZE A BASEBALL STADIUM FOR THE A’s.
Nevada Legislature DOES NOT HAVE HAVE CONSTITUENT SUPPORT AND/OR THE VOTES TO DO THAT DEAL.
A’s Owner John Fisher blasted for mismanaging the A’s, the Oakland Coliseum
and running the team into the ground.
Fisher seeking long term MLB subsidies in revenue sharing
as he tries to move A’s from 6th largest TV market in the country
with a SF Bay Area GDP in the 550 billions
to Nevada with the 40th largest TV market and a GDP of 149 million.
Fisher inherited his money.
Fishers is a complete failure as A’s Owner.
Fisher intentionally let the Oakland Coliseum get into disrepair.
Then, Fisher had a FIRE SALE destroying a contending team that local SF Bay Area fans supported.
Then, to further drive SF Bay Area fans away, Fisher raised ticket prices after the A;s fire sale.
Fisher’s incompetence is on display for all to see.
Fisher’s intent was to run the product into the ground, scare away all the fans and the
slither away into the night with the legendary Oakland A’s franchise.
A move to Las Vegas will lead to never ending MLB Ownership subsidies
and Fisher pocketing millions in revenue sharing fees while fielding a AA or AAA
caliber MLB team.
Fisher won’t spend money on A’s payroll.
Fisher has never spent money on A’s payroll.
Fisher is in way over his head with the A’s Franchise.
Fisher is a “trust fund kid” with little or no business acumen.
MLB Ownership should VOTE TO BLOCK THE A’S MOVE TO LAS VEGAS.
AND, MLB Ownership should vote to force Fisher to sell the A’s to local SF Bay Area
Ownership that will keep the team in the SF Bay Area.
And, Ownership should vote to restore the A’s Santa Clara County/Silicon Valley
territory to 50%/50% with the SF Giants as it had been for a long time.
Then, the A’s should build their new stadium in Santa Clara County and/or San Jose area.
National Media is blasting Fisher, his mismanagement of the team and Oakland stadium
and his present and future failures subsidized by MLB.
Las Vegas should run the other way and keep Fisher away.
Las Vegas can apply for an MLB expansion team.
It would be much better than being stuck with Fisher as MLB Owner in LV.
cbssports.com/mlb/news/john-fisher-is-redefining-s…