San Jose’s "legal fight to lure the A’s suffered another setback Thursday when the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the city’s antitrust case" against MLB, according to Joe Stiglich of CSNBAYAREA.com. The city was appealing the '13 ruling of U.S. District Judge Ronald Whyte "upholding MLB’s exemption from antitrust laws." San Jose claims that MLB "has stalled the city’s efforts to bring the A’s to the South Bay." Incoming MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said, “Hopefully, this will be the end of the San Jose litigation." Stiglich noted San Jose's chance of winning on appeal was "considered a long shot," but indications are that the city "will now try to take the case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court." A victory there "also faces long odds given the court’s previous rulings upholding baseball’s antitrust exemption." A’s ownership "has long wished to relocate the franchise to San Jose, but those efforts have been blocked by the Giants’ territorial rights ownership of Santa Clara County" (CSNBAYAREA.com, 1/15). In San Jose, Howard Mintz in a front-page piece writes the Giants "have stonewalled the A's move," while MLB "has refused to upend the rights claims through a vote of team owners -- and has shown no recent signs of switching course." A's co-Owner Lew Wolff "had pushed for a move to San Jose but recently signed a 10-year lease extension at aging O.Co Coliseum that includes an opt-out clause that presumably would allow the team to relocate to the South Bay." To Oakland officials "now trying to devise a ballpark plan to retain the team in the East Bay, the court ruling is further reason for the A's to look to Oakland, not San Jose, as a long-term solution" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 1/16).
NO WAY JOSE: A S.F. CHRONICLE editorial states, "This is not fair to anyone: to the team, to its loyal fan base, to the cities of Oakland and San Jose -- or even to the other Major League Baseball teams that are forced to send revenue-sharing checks to the A’s every year because of their underperforming finances in an outdated ballpark. The only winner in this mess is the San Francisco Giants, who are determined to preserve their territorial rights" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 1/16).
