Major League Baseball has found itself in quite a predicament, with both the (formerly Oakland) Athletics (A’s) and Tampa Bay Rays being left essentially homeless.
The Athletics, unable to get a new stadium built in Oakland at least partially because John Fisher wants to move the team away from its home for the past 58 years for his own profit, are slated to play the next three seasons at a Triple-A ballpark in West Sacramento, Calif., with 14,000 seats, while their new home is built in Las Vegas.
On the other side of the country, Tropicana Field lost its roof to Hurricane Milton on October 10, and according to a report on the damage provided to the St. Petersburg, Fla. City Council, will cost $55 million to repair. If the city, which owns the stadium, decides to repair the ballpark’s roof, it won’t be ready until the 2026 MLB season, forcing the Rays to play elsewhere in 2025. Potentially, the Rays would return to a repaired Tropicana Field for two years while a new ballpark is built in St. Petersburg.
Neither team’s stadium situation is ideal, nor will the two teams’ stadium situation be permanent, though if the A’s don’t secure funding for a new stadium in Sin City relatively soon, it puts their future in Las Vegas in jeopardy. In Tampa Bay, MLB is hoping to have a solution for the Rays in place by Christmas.
But perhaps the best solution, albeit one that fans of both teams will dislike, is far simpler: What if both teams suspended baseball operations at the MLB level for the next three seasons? It’s a move that is unprecedented in MLB, but has been done in minor league hockey and other sports when teams have either moved or had venue problems. It would leave MLB with an even number of teams, and other than creating a new schedule, the logistics of the baseball season for the 28 teams that would continue to operate wouldn’t change too much.
Obviously, a suspension of operations would have numerous moving parts. How would a suspension of operations work? What would happen to the players on the 40-man roster? What would happen to the players, both at the MLB level and in the minor leagues? How would the teams return to play? And finally, what would happen should they not be able to solve the stadium issue in three years?
Two groups would have vote to approve a proposed suspension of operations: the MLB’s owners and the Major League Baseball Players Association, the union that represents the players.
To get the MLBPA to approve a proposed suspension of operations, the owners would have to make concessions to the MLBPA by essentially amending the Collective Bargaining Agreement, which governs the relationship between labor and management, for the period while the A’s and Rays are dormant. The union’s main concern, most likely, would be the 80 players on MLB contracts (the players on each team’s 40-man roster) whose jobs would instantly evaporate when the teams suspend operation. A lesser concern would be the effect of the suspension on players who are signed to minor league deals.
Ownership could probably satisfy the MLBPA by expanding the 40-man roster to a 43-man roster, as the 28 remaining teams would need to absorb 2.85 players each. The 80 players on the A’s and Rays could be scattered across the league via a dispersal draft.
Both the A’s and the Rays would have an interest in continuing to have their minor league players play and develop their games, especially at the lower minor league levels. Minor league players, especially top prospects and players at the Double-A and Triple-A levels would not want to play without a route to MLB, but other teams interested in potentially bringing such players in the A’s and Rays’ systems to an MLB roster could essentially treat those minor league systems the way teams in the National Football League can sign players off another team’s practice squad to the active roster.
When the two franchises are ready to return to play, the process would essentially be reversed. Owners would vote to approve the two franchises’ return to play, and then MLB could schedule a draft by which the two teams could restock their 40-man rosters. Potentially, it could be negotiated that players on long-term deals that extend beyond the term of a team suspension of operations would be returned to their original team, though neither the A’s nor the Rays currently have any players who would still be under contract for the 2028 season.
While it’s unlikely that MLB would actually allow two teams to suspend operations, both the A’s and Rays are notoriously cost conscious franchises. It would be very difficult for either team to be profitable while playing in minor league or spring training ballparks with capacities under 15,000. But by suspending operations at the MLB level, both organizations could save considerable amounts of money on player payroll while their stadium issues are solved, rather than hemhorraging money while living an itinerant existence.
And what if neither team is able to solve their stadium problem during the suspension? The National Hockey League has recently provided a road map. When the Arizona Coyotes couldn’t solve their arena problems in the desert, the NHL purchased the hockey operations assets of the franchise from owner Alex Meruelo. Meruelo kept the rights to operate an NHL team in the Phoenix market, and the NHL turned around and sold the hockey operations assets to Ryan Smith, who moved the franchise to Salt Lake City.
Commissioner Rob Manfred has previously stated that MLB would not expand until the A’s and Rays solved their stadium issues. While the Rays appear to be much closer to a solution than the A’s, who still do not officially have funding in place and need to have it before construction can begin, it’ll be at least three years before MLB can grow the game and their business via expansion. Sources told the Nevada Independent last month that the funding is in place, but details won’t be released to the public until December.
With the clock ticking, a solution will be coming soon. Spring training for the A’s and Rays is just three months away.
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