Despite Complaints, A's Appear Poised to Stay in Sacramento on Interim Basis

A's right-hander Luis Severino hasn't been the only one to bring up some issues with playing at Sacramento's Sutter Health Park. Zack Wheeler had his say after pitching there, and both Joe Ryan and Carlos Correa has issues of their own.

Some have been speculating that the Sacramento adventure would be a one-year stop for the Athletics, who had signed on for three-to-four seasons while their proposed ballpark in Las Vegas is being built.

Recent reporting from both Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle and John Shea of The San Francisco Standard quoted union chief Tony Clark as saying, "it's less than ideal, to say the least." That said, it does appear to be where they'll be staying for the indefinite future.

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said, "Right now, it is my expectation that they will play in Sacramento until they move to Las Vegas."

With neither party seeming to even hint at another more tangible option on the horizon, it's pretty much assured that at least next season will be played in Sacramento as well. These statements, plus an expected 2026 MLB schedule release in the coming days seem to make that fairly certain.

While there has been no announcement of when the schedule will be released, it's typically right around the All-Star break, so it could be any day now. With that release being so close, if there was another venue on the horizon, it would have dropped by now, since the River Cats schedule has to align with the A's.

The reasoning for staying the course is fairly simple. On the one hand, A's owner John Fisher wants to keep his TV money coming from NBC Sports California (believed to be around $70 million per year) and he misses out on that money if they move out of the region. That takes out the home of the Las Vegas Aviators and any ballpark in Salt Lake City.

The only big-league option that would be available to them would be the Oakland Coliseum, and it's not likely that would become an option after how things ended. Ownership would love to avoid "Sell the team!" chants if they can manage it.

The problem is that there isn't an upgrade over what they have now (outside of Oakland) anywhere in the area, so the A's are pretty much locked into Sacramento, as Manfred said. They will presumably make more upgrades to Sutter Health Park following the conclusion of the season to make it a better experience for both players and fans alike.

The trouble could come in attempting to draw free agents to play in Sacramento in an attempt to fill some gaps in the roster, now that a good portion of the league has been to the ballpark. If the player's perception of the field isn't good, it's going to make it more difficult to draw game-changing talent.