The independent Pioneer Baseball League will add expansion club the Oakland Ballers in 2024, meaning the city is "scheduled to have a new baseball team" as the A's are set to make their eventual move to Las Vegas, according to Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY. The B's are "hoping to play their inaugural season near Laney College in downtown Oakland," the site where the A’s “once hoped to play among their stadium proposals over the years." Former Mariners and Rangers manager Don Wakamatsu will be the club's EVP/Baseball Operations. The B's will become the Pioneer League’s “first West Coast franchise, already raising more than” $2M from investors while "starting a fundraising campaign" to invite others to “become part-owners of the team” (USA TODAY, 11/28). B's co-founder Paul Freedman said that the club “will be raising money by offering fan ownership stakes,” similar to the USL Oakland Roots. In S.F., Susan Slusser notes tickets prices for the B’s “haven’t been set but will be affordable for families.” Freedman: “We're going to play real baseball. One of the reasons why we want to be in an independent league is so that games actually have meaning and winning matters, as opposed to the only purpose being player development” (S.F. CHRONICLE, 11/28).
