Sports
MLB players with Vegas roots skeptical of A's relocation: 'It’s a terrible idea'
The Oakland Athletics are 11 weeks from extinction.
They’ll set up shop in Sacramento for three or four years, and after that they plan on making Las Vegas their new home. The A’s fans hate the idea, of course. The elected officials in Nevada, who authorized $380 million in public funding toward a new ballpark in Las Vegas, largely love the idea.
Las Vegas has a strong baseball community, and a growing cast of major league players. I spent the past few weeks asking major leaguers with Las Vegas roots what they thought of the A’s move and whether they believed the team would succeed there. Their comments were thoughtful and often nuanced — well, most of them.
“I think it’s a terrible idea,” Arizona Diamondbacks closer Paul Sewald said. “The whole thing, I fear, is going to be an abject disaster.”
Sewald said he would prefer the public funding be used for schools and roads. He said he also was skeptical that Las Vegas could support the A’s when the Raiders and 2023 Stanley Cup champion Golden Knights already are there, the two-time defending champion WNBA Aces have sold out their entire season, and it is possible that an NBA expansion team could beat the A’s to town.
“We just don’t have enough bandwidth to invest in three, four, five professional teams,” Sewald said. “We just don’t have enough people. That’s OK. We don’t have to be a city that has all four major sports.”
Bryce Harper, the Philadelphia Phillies’ All-Star first baseman, said he was unsure if the A’s would succeed in Las Vegas. He would prefer an expansion team — a team that could create its own history, just like the expansion Golden Knights.
“Everybody is still locked in on the Golden Knights,” Harper said. “It’s a tough thing to see the A’s go away from Oakland. They have so much tradition and history there: the green, the yellow, the white cleats, Eric Chavez and all those guys that played there, Barry Zito, [Mark] Mulder, Huddy [Tim Hudson], the teams they had.
“I see it in Oakland. I don’t see it in Vegas.”
Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Paul Sewald doesn’t like the Oakland Athletics relocating to Las Vegas one bit. “The whole thing, I fear, is going to be an abject disaster,” he said.
(Darryl Webb / Associated Press)
Said Texas Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux: “I think it would be great to have a big league team, whether it was a team that moves or an expansion team.
“I think the economy is there. It’s grown so much that it can support a team. And all people need is a reason to go to Vegas. If you’re going to go there to watch a ballgame, let that be your excuse to get out there.”
Sewald is not convinced the baseball fans of Las Vegas would become A’s fans.
“They are all Dodgers fans,” he said. “Ninety percent of the people there are from California. That’s how my dad got there. That’s how I became a Dodger fan growing up. They’re not leaving the Dodgers fan base, just because you have a team.”
Chicago White Sox outfielder Tommy Pham said he understood the skepticism. He also said he had heard it before.
“They said the same thing about the Golden Knights: Would this be a hockey town?” Pham said. “And the Golden Knights were winning, and look at it now. Everybody wears Golden Knights stuff in Vegas now.”
Maddux had no doubt the A’s would enjoy a honeymoon period in Las Vegas.
“They’ll always come at the beginning,” he said. “Then you have to sustain it.”
That is the fundamental concern of all the Las Vegans with whom I spoke for this column.
“Seeing the A’s, and going to their park the last few years and seeing how that has been kept up,” Angels All-Star pitcher Tyler Anderson said, “and how they run their team — a lot of times, they have really good teams, but it seems like, as soon as they get a good team, they start trading guys before they get too expensive.
“It’s hard as a fan to have a good connection with players and teams there. You hope they come [to Las Vegas] and it changes a little bit.”
In Oakland, the A’s have ranked last in payroll in each of the past two years and have not ranked among the top 20 in payroll since 2007. They are on pace to lose 100 games for a third consecutive season.
“No one in Vegas is an A’s fan,” Sewald said. “Why are they going to change allegiances to a team that is not trying to win?”
An Oakland Athletics fan holds up a sign protesting the team’s planned move to Las Vegas during a game at the Oakland Coliseum in June 2023.
(Jeff Chiu / Associated Press)
That, really, is the $380 million question: Has Nevada bought itself a winner?
The only one who really knows the answer is John Fisher, the A’s owner. So I asked him.
“By moving into our new stadium on the Las Vegas Strip,” Fisher said in a statement, “we will finally have the resources to significantly increase our payroll, retain our most talented young players, and make acquisitions through trades and in the free-agent market.”
A’s fans like to point out — they may be emailing me at this very moment — that Fisher’s Major League Soccer team, the San José Earthquakes, moved into a new stadium nine years ago. The Earthquakes have neither posted a winning record nor hosted a playoff game since then, and their payroll generally ranks in the bottom half of the league.
What Fisher’s teams did in the Bay Area need not be relevant in Nevada. If the A’s spend to win in Las Vegas, Pham said, they shouldn’t be concerned about winning over their new hometown.
“Shouldn’t be,” Pham said. “Shouldn’t be, man. These owners are profiting, you know? They cry broke.
“I do the same thing. I cry broke when people ask me for money but, deep down, I know I got it. It’s what people with money do.”
Times staff writer Mike DiGiovanna contributed to this column.
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As expected, the Washington Wizards have begun the 2026 NBA Draft by selecting BYU’s AJ Dybantsa with the first overall pick.
In a draft class loaded with “cant-miss prospects,” Dybantsa stood out above the rest, as the 6-foot-9, 217-pound forward put on a show with the Cougars in his one and only collegiate season.
Dybantsa averaged 25.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.1 steals per game, while shooting 51% from the field for BYU. He became the fifth Division-1 player in the last 40 seasons to average at least 25 points while shooting 50% from the field in a single season.
This is a breaking news story. More to come…
MINNEAPOLIS — Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is planning for right fielder Kyle Tucker to be out for the rest of the series against the Minnesota Twins, after he left Monday’s game with low back spasms.
Roberts hopes to write Tucker into the lineup Friday, when the Dodgers open a three-game series in San Diego, after three days off, plus most of the game Monday.
“Hopefully he [can take] advantage of this, obviously to get right, but also kind of a mental reset,” Roberts said. “Hopefully the four days will suffice.”
Tucker, who said he felt a little better Tuesday but still sore, especially when rotating, is “pretty confident” that he’ll be able to avoid the injured list. And if he can take swings on Wednesday, he’ll probably be on track for that Friday return.
“But if he doesn’t, then we’ll have probably a tougher decision on Friday,” Roberts said.
Tucker, who has a .707 on-base-plus-slugging-percentage this season, has had a slow offensive start to his Dodgers’ tenure. He wasn’t ready to make any declarations about the potential benefits of time off to reset.
“Maybe,” he said. “We’ll see after I get back. We’ll see how that goes.”
The news on catcher Dalton Rushing, who exited Monday’s game to rule out a concussion, was more straightforward.
Rushing hadn’t yet gone through the second round of concussion testing needed to clear him to play when Roberts addressed the media Tuesday afternoon. But Rushing had told Roberts he was ready to play.
“That doesn’t carry too much weight until I hear from the medical staff,” Roberts said. “But it is good to know that he said he’s good to go. My hope is that he’ll be available off the bench in some capacity.”
As a downpour hammered the tarped field early Tuesday evening, it was unclear when exactly the Dodgers would be playing. But despite plenty of rain in the forecast Tuesday evening, the teams and Major League Baseball identified a window for the game.
The Twins announced an estimated 5:05 p.m. PDT first pitch, representing a 25-minute rain delay.
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Wyndham Clark reflected on winning what was his second U.S. Open with an emotional message filled with appreciation.
Clark went wire-to-wire at Shinnecock Hills to become the 24th player to win at least two U.S. Opens in their career after beating fellow American Sam Burns by one shot. The 32-year-old’s first U.S. Open title came in 2023 at Los Angeles Country Club, another one-shot victory, where he got the best of runner-up Rory McIlroy.
“I’m not sure I’ve found the words yet. If I’m being honest, last year wasn’t filled with many highs. There were a lot more questions than answers, a lot more frustration than celebration, and plenty of moments that tested my belief in myself,” Clark’s note on X began.
Wyndham Clark of the United States looks on after winning the 126th U.S. OPEN at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club on June 21, 2026, in Southampton, New York. (Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)
WYNDHAM CLARK DOESN’T HAVE TO BE LOVED, BUT HE DOES HAVE TO BE RESPECTED AFTER US OPEN TRIUMPH AT SHINNECOCK
“This game can be incredibly humbling. It doesn’t owe you anything, and sometimes the only thing you can do is keep showing up and trust that the work will eventually pay off. That’s why this week means so much. To the fans, thank you for making this championship what it is. New York crowds are passionate, honest, and demanding. Whether you were pulling for me or not, you created an atmosphere I’ll never forget and pushed all of us to compete at our best.
“Thank you to the USGA, the members of Shinnecock Hills, the volunteers, and every person behind the scenes who made this week so special. This place is everything a U.S. Open should be, and I’m incredibly honored to have my name connected to it forever.
“To my team, family, friends, and sponsors, thank you for staying in my corner through the difficult stretches. Thank you for believing in me on the days when believing wasn’t easy. This trophy means more because of the road it took to get here. The setbacks, the doubts, and the hard days all make this moment that much sweeter. I’ll never forget this week, this place, and what it feels like to stand here as a two-time U.S. Open Champion. Forever grateful.”
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NEW YORK GOLF FANS DESERVE TO BE CALLED OUT, SAM BURNS HAS A GOOD CRY, WYNDHAM CLARK’S BEST SHOT AT SHINNECOCK
Wyndham Clark celebrates with his caddie, David Pelekoudas, on the 18th green during the final round of the 126th U.S. Open Championship at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club on June 21, 2026, in Southampton, New York. (Tracy Wilcox/PGA TOUR via Getty Images)
Clark was far from the fan favorite during Sunday’s final round at Shinnecock. The majority of fans on the Long Island, New York property appeared to be pulling against the Colorado native with countless shouts for his golf ball to find bunkers and minor roars after each of his five bogeys during the final round.
Wyndham Clark celebrates with his girlfriend Emily Tanner after winning the 126th U.S. Open Championship at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club. (Tracy Wilcox/PGA Tour)
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Clark made a pair of public mistakes during the 2025 PGA Tour season. During the final round of the 2025 PGA Championship, he threw his driver through an advertisement sign behind a tee box. A month later, after missing the cut at Oakmont in the 2025 U.S. Open, he ripped apart two lockers inside the clubhouse and was barred by the historic club in the following days.
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