Jeremiah

It seems then didn’t do anything, thinking they couldn’t put Arvy and Kempe on LTIR. So they only had $2.3M in cap space. I think they should have at least moved Kaliyev, if not Roy as well. Looking at what every other WC contender did, it looks pretty rough in the playoffs now.

The Knights made another huge trade of draft capital and prospects today. When those bills eventually come due, they’re going to come due badly.

13 minutes ago, Vegas Halo Fan said:

People keep suggesting this, despite the fact that the name is already taken and copyrighted by our WNBA team.

I had brought up this point as well, but it was dismissed pretty quickly. I think people outside of Vegas don’t get how popular the Aces are here. They’re the only WNBA team to have sold out their season tickets for the coming season.

41 minutes ago, jeskola said:

Comparing 2001 and 2004 to 2024 in terms of Vegas + pro sports franchises is laughable at best and you should know better.

Perhaps you didn’t read all of it, but I did mention a big change in attitudes toward Vegas in gambling on sports now being more mainstream. So, yes, I know it’s different now. I live here, and have for 18 years. I also mentioned their overtures to the Diamondbacks in 2018, but I guess that comparison is laughable as well. I’m laying out context and history around our mayors’ public attempts to bring teams to Vegas over the past 25 years. They’ve never made a secret of those efforts. So, from my perspective, having seen previous efforts, it seems very out of character for our sitting mayor to tell a team, who has actual plans to do so, not to come. Now, if you have something to add beyond chiding people for their opinions, then I’m open to civil discussions. If you’re just here to tell people they’re wrong and that’s it, then you can keep scrolling. There’s no value in that.

II don’t think they’ll draw even as many fans as the Knights do. That won’t be a good look for MLB or the A’s. There’s no local excitement for this. The only pushback I’d offer on the hotel/casino patrons is that, from what I’ve seen at Golden Knights, Silver Knights, and 51’s/Aviators games is that most people bring their families, including kids. Those folks are likely not pre- or post-gaming at the casinos. I don’t when I bring my kids to T-Mobile. I don’t see opposing team fans being enough to support an MLB team for 81 home games. As a sports team, is that what you want anyway? The team needs majority local fan support. Fisher won’t get that unless he spends $100-$150M on the roster. Is he going to suddenly start doing that in the 40th-ranked market when he never did in the 10th-ranked one? I don’t think so. If it was an expansion team, maybe, but for this organization? No way.

If things stay the way they are now, yup. They looked pretty listless again while playing a scrub Sens team. That should have been an easy two points, but they had to take it to OT against the worst team in the Eastern Conference. Thankfully Talbot was on his game. It’ll be interesting to see what they do today. I don’t know why they don’t move Kaliyev at least. I’d be okey with them moving Roy for a good prospect or a good forward on an expiring deal as I think the team’s blue line is in good shape.

1 hour ago, Redondo said:

With all that glass it will be really hard to keep cool in the middle of summer. 

Strange design for sure

You’d have to wonder if that glass wall would produce some kind of greenhouse effect. Also, if that opening truly faces west with no obstructions, then it’ll be a nightmare for batters around 7:00-8:00 in the summer. There’s no batter’s eye. I know it’s just renderings, but at this point in the process, they’re supposed to be more than speculative.

2 hours ago, stormngt said:

She said "they arent serious" so they should consider staying in Oakland.

BECAUSE THE A'S DIDN'T WANT TO PLAY AT CASHMAN FIELD WHICH IS IN THE CITY OF LAS VEGAS.

The Tropicana site is in Spring Valley township of Clark County.  Thus the City doesnt collect tax revenue.  Clark County does.

 

Context is very important.  And if you live in Las Vegas you would know the difference and is willingly misleading the board of context.

 

Or you dont live in Las Vegas and just doesn't know the difference. 

Easy there, big guy. No need to shout or accuse anyone of lying. Nothing I said is untrue or misleading. All anyone asked was what you think of the comments. The Goodmans have been lobbying various teams to come here for over 25 years (evidence of which I referenced). I happen to agree that Fisher’s plan doesn’t make a lot of sense. They’ll be kitty corner to T-Mobile. Can you imagine the congestion if the A’s have a game the same evening as the Knights? Or if there is a huge concert at T-Mobile on the same night? Or the embarrassment if the Knights draw better than the A’s It’d be insane. As for if I live here in Vegas? Don’t do that. I’ve lived and worked in this town for 18 years. You want to have a civil discussion, I’m all for that. You want to shout and accuse me of lying or misleading, then just scroll on by. I’m not here for that.

36 minutes ago, jeskola said:

Until everything is official, isnt it best for the politician to say "hey I hope you guys work it out in your current home"? Once they are actually 100% coming to Vegas she will flip the script. Sorry if you are falling for some political speech a few times and now think they are being honest and forthright.

Actually, I don’t agree with that at all based on the history of this area, and the multiple times that our mayors have publicly lobbied for specific teams to move here. They tried for the A’s in 2001.  In 2004, the previous Mayor Goodman rolled up to the winter meetings with showgirls, attempting to woo the Marlins. They also made public overtures to the Expos before they moved to DC. All of that was before gambling on sports became mainstream, which is why leagues would say no. In 2018, they began talks with the Diamondbacks before the situation with the A’s came up again. With all of that context and history of Las Vegas openly recruiting baseball teams, it seems to me odd that our mayor would suddenly tell a team owner, basically, that we’re not interested.

8 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

I get that.   But as we see with Boras, it’s a different game from other agents.

Sometimes, it’s nice to see Boras put in his place.

Snell and Montgomery should have long since been signed and in ST by now.   Neither now should get an opt out after year 1 on a new contract, because that season will be disrupted.

Boras doesn’t seem to have taken into consideration the fallout from the RSN money issue in MLB.   He must have thought that $700 million for Ohtani and $325 million for a MLB rookie in Yamamoto gave him carte blanche?

Do you genuinely think an agent of Boras’s stature would not take things like that into account? The RSNs and the Dodgers deals?  I’m sure he had taken all of those things, plus other things we don’t into account. You and I don’t have to like or approve of Boras or any other agent. He doesn’t work for us, and we’re not involved in any of this stuff.

24 minutes ago, jeskola said:

You've never heard of a politician saying one thing while meaning another? You can choose to take everything politicians say at face value if you want I guess.

So, again, the question then is, what do you think she meant? What do you infer from those comments? I live in Vegas, and I’ve heard her and her husband (our previous mayor) speak many times. They are both, for better or worse, the type to say exactly what they think. She famously said in CNN that she wanted locals to be guinea pigs to see what Covid does. In the stadium case, the public money has already been earmarked. There is no better deal to be had by trashing the deal or saying how Fisher’s plan makes no sense (it doesn’t, tbh). That’s my take, anyway.

I’ll never understand fans hoping the players don’t get paid. The only reason we pay attention to sports is because of the talent on the field/ice/court. Because of the monopolistic draft and service time rules, most of them will never see the lucrative deals of big FA contracts. Most of the ones who get to FA will only ever see one big contract, while teams and MLB make tons of profit every year. I say, get your money. If the billionaires can’t afford it, then they are playing in the wrong sandbox.

1 hour ago, stormngt said:

That isn't what she was saying.

She did say they’d be better off staying in Oakland. She was pretty clear about that. Under competent and interested ownership, she’s 100% correct. That’s the caveat. What did you infer from those comments?

15 minutes ago, Dtwncbad said:

Isn’t this site on the strip where the Tropicana was?

Maybe they should have build a ballpark attached to a hotel, where the rooms have balconies to watch the games, where room guests would effectively have their own luxury suite for the game.  They could build it in a way where a server could get to them from the ballpark side of the balcony to sell food/drinks.

 

This is correct. Now Bally’s needs to show what they’re doing with the rest of the property. It’s set to be demolished near the end of April. Both Fisher and Bally’s kept saying each was waiting for the other to provide renderings before anything can move forward. So we’ll see where it goes from here. Supposedly it’ll be a new resort and entertainment complex, something that would be more than what was on the Trop site previously. That’s an interesting idea you have. I know SkyDome has had a hotel inside of it since it’s opening in ‘89. They could perhaps do something like that as well.

5 minutes ago, Hubs said:

Also, not having a dome for a summer league, when temps can reach 115 in Vegas? C'mon. They're not serious.

That’s the weird thing about these renderings. The first ones featured a retractable roof. That’s what the A’s used to sell this idea to the state legislature. It’s also what MLB wants. They don’t want any more fixed domes. The A’s say the full-time closed stadium is more comfortable for the fans, but ARI has been playing in a retractable-roof stadium since 1998. That glass wall looks like it would have a huge greenhouse effect. I think it’s more they can’t afford the added cost. This stadium doesn’t look like it’ll sit on 9 acres, which would be the smallest footprint in MLB (Target Field is technically 8.5 acres, but its footprint is 10.5). There’s so much of this deal that makes little sense. I don’t think this area can sustain 33,000/game for 81 dates in the summer.

Unfortunately, they missed a good opportunity last night by failing to take advantage of a struggling Canucks team on a night when VGK was off and the Preds lost. They did move percentage points ahead of both, but that was a win they easily could have had. That second period was atrocious, giving up 19 SOG. On to the next.

27 minutes ago, Dtwncbad said:

That’s an airball, fittingly.

It’s an opinion, and reasonable people can disagree. I’m not here to make fun or insult anyone. I’m just laying out reasons why Aces wouldn’t be a good name if the A’s had to change it. As to the relative merits of the NBA v WNBA, the NBA no longer has fundamentals or defense. Double dribbling go uncalled, and it’s just an individual shooting contest now. I’ve been a Lakers fan since the Showtime days, and it’s not nearly as interesting now as it used to be as a game. Anyway, I’ll leave it at that since this is more about how the A’s released their renderings. I’ve laid out why I think that would likely not work either in other posts.

14 minutes ago, Dtwncbad said:

I didn’t know about the existing Aces in the WNBA.  Maybe the existing Aces could change their name to the Queens.  Sell them on the idea that a name change can generate revenue from all the loyal fans buying all new gear.  They would probably make hundreds of dollars.

 

I mean, you can make fun, but I live here, and I’ve seen plenty of people wearing Aces gear around town. They are their league’s biggest draw. It’s a better basketball product than the NBA is, and Adam Silver already has his eyes on Vegas for NBA expansion. Since the NBA and WNBA still share a close business connection, there’s no way they would allow that brand to be diluted locally. Besides Sacramento’s team is already called the Monarchs, so the royalty name is already gone.

I still have doubts that this will work. Fisher would be moving his MLB team from the nation’s number 10 media market to the 40th, making it easily the smallest market in baseball. That’s hard to sell for 81 home dates, and the broadcast deal will reflect that market size. He’s not magically going to start spending $150M/year on a roster after acquiring all of the new debt. He’d have to sell out the stadium for 30 years to pay off the bonds. Not going to happen. Plus, in Vegas he’d be the 4th or 5th option for fan interest and dollars. In order, it goes: Golden Knights, Rebels/Raiders, Aces, Aviators. The Knights set the standard for how a new team here should do. The locals won’t accept a pro team that’s a loser. It’s why the Raiders have had such a meh reception here (they rank 31st in attendance). The A’s would slot somewhere around where the Aces and Aviators do. It’s not a good look for MLB. The move makes no sense.

19 minutes ago, Dtwncbad said:

A’s stands for Athletics.  OK, so it would be the Las Vegas Athletics.

How about keep the A’s, but change what the A stands for, and be the Las Vegas Aces?

Well, we already have the back-to-back WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces, who are owned by Mark Davis, and draw about 10K/game. He despises John Fisher. No way he dilutes that local name recognition. There are also the AAA Reno Aces. If OAK makes a deal where they keep the name and visual program, I don’t see Aces as the new name. Maybe something that references the old west history of the area. We used to have an AHL team called the Wranglers. All of that being said, I think there are still legitimate doubts as to the validity of this move. We shall see.

Another win over the Canucks and the Kings will overtake VGK in the standings. Things are going pretty well now, and I hope they can get this win tonight.

I don’t get the animosity. I imagine everyone here is pretty consistently looking for better opportunities for themselves within their respective industries. You’d be foolish not to. Why should pro athletes be any different? They can be traded at any time, and have no real control over their career for the first six years of MLB service time. The Angels had six years to get it together, to prove that they are a top-notch organization, and they didn’t. That’s on the team. There is no one here that would have said no to that deal from an organization that is consistently in contention.

Verlander starting the season on the IL with shoulder soreness.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/39658632/astros-justin-verlander-begin-season-injured-list

3 minutes ago, Blarg said:

I think this has something to do with Eppler and the Mets shenanigans.

That seems likely, but let’s not think for a moment that Eppler was the only one doing it.

Jackie Robinson was an athletic savant. He played baseball, basketball, track, and football in college. In football, he played QB and safety. Then he went and had a Hall of Fame career in baseball. Just ridiculous.

There is a lot that would need to happen before expansion can be considered. Manfred has said he’s stepping down in ‘29 when his contract is up, and that between now and then he didn’t foresee any expansion decisions to be made before then. Some of this also hinges on the resolution of the A’s situation. The city of Oakland has a lot of leverage here because the A’s have no home after the ‘24 season, and the schedule for the ‘25 season needs to be set by July. Well, the A’s don’t want to forego $70/year by leaving the Bay Are now and go play in a MiLB park for four seasons. The city can ask for the Moon right now in exchange for keeping the zombie A’s around: an expansion team that keeps the name, colors, and history of the A’s, demand that MLB force Fisher sell to someone like Joe Lacob then give Fisher an expansion team in Vegas. There could be a new team in Vegas or Oakland before any of these other sites are considered. It’s a fascinating mess right now.