Athletics Settle on San Jose Municipal Stadium for Alternate Players
The Oakland A’s have agreed in principle to have its squad of alternate players spend the 2020 season in San Jose.
Sources tell www.si.com/mlb/athletics that while the deal has yet to be announced, it will be soon. The season will start with 30 players on the roster in Oakland, plus a three-person taxi squad. Everybody else will be in San Jose as the A’s make use of San Jose Municipal Stadium.
The site was first identified earlier in the week by the San Francisco Chronicle.
In a regular summer, that facility would be serving as the home of the San Francisco Giants’ Class-A California League team. San Jose State also uses the facility for its baseball games.
Early plans had the A’s going to Stockton, where their own Cal League team is located, but some issues concerning COVID-19 in San Joaquin County led the A’s to look elsewhere. A’s general manager David Forst said earlier sites in Alameda County were also being looked at.
For the moment, the A’s have 42 players working out in Oakland at the Coliseum. The fact that the other 18 players on the 60-man roster were up in their air was a problem, as A’s manager Bob Melvin acknowledged Thursday.
“I think everybody’s a little bit concerned about that,” Melvin said on a video conference call. “You know, would you like to have a few of these guys for us later on to extend some of the innings and some of these games. It’s not happening right now, so hopefully we can get it done soon.”
First-round draft pick Tyler Soderstrom, a prep catcher from Turlock, is expected to be one member of the first group of players reporting to San Jose.
Follow Athletics insider John Hickey on Twitter: @JHickey3
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