While MLB last week reportedly told the A's they could not build a new ballpark in San Jose, the league "simply rejected the last plan submitted" by the city, according to sources cited by Mark Purdy of the SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS. There were "concerns about seating capacity and the stadium footprint at the proposed downtown site," but the letter from MLB "did not rule out potential MLB approval of a revised plan." The letter was sent to the A's and team Owner Lew Wolff "one day before San Jose filed its lawsuit against MLB," in a "legal tactic of some sort." All of the "key South Bay players remain publicly behind an A's ballpark vision for the designated property near the SAP Center." However, nothing can happen "until the MLB suit is resolved -- and until baseball finds an internal solution that will satisfy the Giants' territorial rights claim." Purdy: "For now, no one among the San Jose ballpark supporters seems too concerned that the East Bay will come up with a better proposal" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 12/11). Legal analyst Steve Moskowitz said, "The city of San Jose, in my opinion, is going to lose because the bottom line is -- this is a legal term -- so what? A business made a decision. ... Any business has the right to be where they want to. The city of San Jose is doing two things: One thing they're trying, which they already lost on, is the anti-trust. The other thing they're saying, 'You interfered with our business.' But the bottom line is Major League Baseball has the right to be where they want to be." Moskowitz: "Whatever the judge does, there's still appeals left and this is going to drag on for awhile" ("Yahoo Sports Talk Live," CSN Bay Area, 12/12).
