MLB says A’s to Sacramento is ‘certainty’ despite union concerns

Major League Baseball issued a statement to The Sacramento Bee on Thursday regarding the Oakland A’s move to West Sacramento next year amid skepticism surrounding conditions for players at Sutter Health Park.

“It is a certainty that the A’s will play their 2025 season in Sacramento as planned,” the statement said. “MLB is continuing to work productively with the MLBPA on the details of the transition.”

Prominent sports agent Scott Boras recently spoke to the San Francisco Chronicle and this week to KFBK Radio in Sacramento expressing concerns about the working conditions at the minor-league ballpark that, for 24 years since it was built, has housed the Triple-A River Cats.

The stadium is undergoing renovations to house the A’s and their big-league opponents, including the construction of a new clubhouse, weight room, and batting cages beyond the outfield wall.

The Major League Baseball Players Association has yet to approve the specifics regarding the working conditions for MLB players at Sutter Health Park, a temporary arrangement announced in April.

However, the MLBPA does not have the power to veto the move, a source with knowledge of the situation confirmed to The Sacramento Bee after it was initially reported in July by the Los Angeles Times.

A main point of concern mentioned by Boras has been the addition of an artificial playing surface that will be installed before the A’s start next season. Boras and others have floated the idea of the A’s not playing in West Sacramento because of working conditions — in some cases suggesting a possible return to the Oakland Coliseum as that venue comes under new ownership — despite the MLBPA’s inability to veto the move.

“Being raised in Elk Grove, the summer heat there in the Sacramento area is extraordinary, and if they put artificial turf there, that’s going to magnify the impact of the heat,” Boras said, according to the Chronicle. “In the major-league stadiums where there is Astroturf, there’s a dome so that the turf doesn’t absorb the heat. Those of us who played on Astroturf when it’s outdoors, like I did in the minor leagues, you understand it just releases heat, and you get up into 120-130 degrees in your shoes because you’re absorbing that heat.”

The A’s and River Cats, which are owned by the Sacramento Kings, will share the stadium for at least the next three seasons while the A’s have an option for a fourth year in 2028 when they hope to open their proposed $1.5 billion stadium on the Las Vegas strip. The team hopes to break ground next spring. No final financing or architectural plans on a Las Vegas stadium have been made public.

The minor- and major-league teams sharing Sutter Health Park means 156 games will be played there next season.