MLB commissioner Rob Manfred feels 'sorry' for A's fans in Oakland - ESPN

NEW YORK — Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred fired back Thursday against the backlash facing Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher, who hopes to move the team to Las Vegas.

«I feel sorry for the fans in Oakland,» Manfred said. «I do not like this outcome. I understand why they feel the way they do. I think the real question is what is it that Oakland was prepared to do? There is no Oakland offer. They never got to the point where they had a plan to build a stadium at any site. It's not just John Fisher.… The community has to provide support, and at some point you come to the realization that it's just not going to happen.»

In a statement to ESPN, the Oakland mayor's office pushed back against Manfred's characterization.

«There was a very concrete proposal under discussion and Oakland had gone above and beyond to clear hurdles, including securing funding for infrastructure, providing an environmental review and working with other agencies to finalize proposals,» said a spokesperson for the Oakland mayor's office. «The reality is the A's ownership had insisted on a multibillion-dollar, 55-acre project that included a ballpark, residential, commercial and retail space. In Las Vegas, for whatever reason, they seem satisfied with a 9-acre leased ballpark on leased land. If they had proposed a similar project in Oakland, we feel confident a new ballpark would already be under construction.»

The Nevada Legislature gave final approval Wednesday to provide public funding for a proposed $1.5 billion stadium with a retractable roof, approving a bill with $380 million in taxpayer money on a 25-15 vote, including the creation of a special tax district around the stadium — that would be the smallest in MLB — to generate