The Giants could "enjoy the highest-income unshared market in the country" as soon as 2025 with the A's set to move to Las Vegas, according to Susan Slusser of the S.F. CHRONICLE. The Giants projected payroll for next year is "in the midrange with about" a $150M payroll based on the current roster. Next year, the Giants' Mission Rock development is "scheduled to open its second residential building," and Visa "moved its international headquarters to Misson Rock last year." Giants managing partner Greg Johnson in August said that the plan is to “break even.” But Slusser noted given the "earning power of Mission Rock and the prospect of having the entirety of Northern California for a market," the franchise’s value will “continue to skyrocket.” The team is considered a "viable option" to land P/DH Shohei Ohtani, "not the least because they have the financial means" to land him. The Bay Area, with approximately 7.76 million residents, will "not be the largest unshared market in terms of population" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 12/3).
GET TOUGH: A San Jose MERCURY NEWS editorial stated Oakland and Alameda County officials "need to stop groveling to team ownership and start playing hardball.” They need to "wrest back control of the Coliseum, one of the Bay Area’s prime development sites." Prospects for any future housing and commercial development are "stalled" because A's owner John Fisher has a "stranglehold on the land." Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao should “abandon her silly demands that Fisher rebrands his team so Oakland can keep the A’s name." Instead, Oakland officials should “start thinking strategically.” While the Las Vegas ballpark is being built, the A’s "need a place to play for at least two years after 2024, when their lease at the Coliseum runs out." There is "room for a deal here: Oakland agrees to the extension in exchange for Fisher’s selling the Coliseum rights." If the A’s will not agree to that, the city should “take back control through eminent domain” (San Jose MERCURY NEWS, 12/2).
