MLB Franchise Notes: A's Stadium Drama Dampening Team's Success

Sports consultant Andy Dolich said the A’s surprise playoff run this year “should sell a lot of season tickets for next year.” Dolich: “This is, without doubt, the most exciting story in baseball. ... But this circumstance about constantly threatening a move someplace is killing an opportunity to basically celebrate what is one of the more surprising, wonderful seasons in baseball.” Dolich added, “You’re only going to sell the games out if that team is committed to Oakland. We know it’s not” (“Chronicle Live,” Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, 10/2). 

HOW TO DARN SOX: In Boston, Nick Cafardo writes of Red Sox GM Ben Cherington, "Nobody should have only one season to prove themselves." Cherington "deserves the chance to rebuild this team." With the "complete backing of ownership, he will return to give it another try." Cherington's first order of business "likely will be to end the managerial tenure of Bobby Valentine ... after one year." Cherington before yesterday's season finale against the Yankees said, "I made some decisions that didn't work out. I still believe in a lot of the players here and those we acquired. It didn't work out." Cafardo writes Cherington "will get one more year." He "likely will get two or three years, and he should." He will get "a legitimate amount of time to get things straight and to rebuild after some of the poor decisions he helped [former GM] Theo Epstein make" (BOSTON GLOBE, 10/4).

HALO EFFECT: In California, Jeff Miller writes under the header, "Dipoto Gets Pass This Time Around." The '12 Angels season was "very much a failure, an all-timer, the worst in franchise history." Angels Owner Arte Moreno "didn't invest $159 million in payroll for the Angels to miss the playoffs, especially this year." While the team has missed the playoffs in each of the last three seasons, manager Mike Scioscia and "all his coaches will return next spring." Miller writes Angels Senior VP & GM Jerry Dipoto may be "rewarded for this rare display of loyalty, for having the patience to promote continuity." If not, the '13 season "will be another failure, one for which he very well could be faulted" (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 10/4). 

NORTHSIDE SLIDE: In Chicago, Gordon Wittenmer asks, "Where do the Cubs go from here?" After finishing the '12 season with a 61-101 record, the front office "has embraced a historically significant -- and perhaps unnecessary -- road to its promised land of eventual 'sustained success.'" In the free-agency era, "no big-market, big-revenue team in the majors has undergone an intentional youth-driven, multiyear rebuilding process." But "to their credit, the Cubs' top execs have been increasingly transparent." Cubs President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein said, "We’re not trying to hide the ball. We’re trying to be honest with (the fans)" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 10/4).