MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred points to city of Oakland for A’s move to Las Vegas: ‘I feel sorry for the fans’

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The Oakland Athletics’ plan to move to Nevada after signing a binding agreement for land near the Las Vegas strip has not gone over well with the city’s mayor, Sheng Thao, but Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred refuted any suggestion that the organization wasn’t negotiating in good faith before deciding to move on. 

A’s president Dave Kaval announced last week that the organization agreed to purchase land in southern Nevada with plans to build a 30,000-seat ballpark with a partially retractable roof worth $1.5 billion.

General view of a game between the New York Yankees and Oakland Athletics on August 28, 2022, at RingCentral Coliseum in Oakland, CA.  (Brandon Sloter/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The announcement was met with harsh criticism from Oakland mayor Sheng Thao who said in a statement that the move happened "mid-negotiations" and suggested that any deal to stay in Oakland was used as "leverage" for the A’s new deal in Las Vegas. 

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"The city of Oakland has for years worked to keep the A's rooted here in the city of Oakland," Thao said. "This announcement happened mid-negotiations, and it shows they had no interest in reaching a deal with Oakland at all. Oakland is not interested in being used as leverage with the A's negotiations with Las Vegas."

But during a meeting with The Associated Press Sports Editors on Monday, Manfred dismissed that notion, adding that the A’s worked exclusively with the city of Oakland from 2014 to 2021. 

Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred speaks during a news conference, Thursday