MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred yesterday said that he has "met with A’s ownership and with Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf" regarding the team's ballpark situation, according to Susan Slusser of the S.F. CHRONICLE. Manfred, who visited the A's at their Spring Training facility in Mesa yesterday, said, "When I think about the five longer-term issues that I feel need to be resolved, the stadium situation for the A’s is right at the top of that list." Slusser notes while former Commissioner Bud Selig formed a panel to examine the A's ballpark issue, Manfred is "looking at the issue himself." Selig also "never went around visiting team's clubhouses," but Manfred is "trying to check in with as many clubs as he can this spring." A's P and MLBPA player rep Sean Doolittle said of yesterday's meeting with Manfred, “I like it. It’s unprecedented, and I think it’ll be great to get an idea what he’s like.” Manfred said that he figured it is "better to have introductions before anything major happens, like a crisis or labor strife." Slusser writes the A’s "could use a proactive commissioner, and Manfred shares their concerns about the aging" O.co Coliseum (S.F. CHRONICLE, 3/17). Manfred said that MLB will "continue to be involved but prefers to let the A's and city of Oakland try to find a solution." Manfred: "Stadium issues are fundamentally local issues because it is the owner who has the feel, pulse of the local market and knows what's necessary in that market" (AP, 3/16). In San Jose, John Hickey writes Manfred "could use the commissioner's best interests of baseball power to force the pace of a problem that has been on baseball's doorstep for the better part of a decade with the Oakland Coliseum aging badly, but he seems disinclined to do so" (MERCURYNEWS.COM, 3/16).
SAME AS THE OLD BOSS? CSNBAYAREA.com's Ray Ratto writes A's co-Owners John Fisher and Lew Wolff "aren’t that keen on doing business in Oakland, let alone paying for the privilege." But Manfred’s "passive-aggressive response is no better than any of the ones" Selig "emitted in his time not tackling the problem." The A's "have no leverage in the Bay Area save in Oakland and Alameda County" (CSNBAYAREA.com, 3/16).
