LETTER: Make Oakland A’s agree to spend money on players
As a longtime baseball fan, I have been looking forward to Las Vegas getting a major league team. I believe Southern Nevada would support a competitive team, as we have shown with the Knights and the Raiders. Unfortunately the A’s are not close to being a competitive team.
For the past several years, they have the lowest payroll of any major league team, and their record reflects that. As of this writing they are 4-16. Their ownership has made no effort to improve the team, and yet they expect our city to contribute at least $500 million toward building a new, domed stadium, according to news reports.
My suggestion: As part of any deal, they should be required to sign some free agents and have a payroll that is not in the bottom 25 percent of major league teams before 2025 (the expected date of the move). That requirement should be in force for their first 10 years here or else they would have to repay any money given to them, including tax incentives. Their ownership can easily afford that.
