Oakland A's Big League Weekend in Las Vegas to showcase the youth
The Oakland A's will be playing baseball games in Las Vegas on Friday and Saturday as part of MLB's Big League Weekend beginning today. This isn't the first time that the A's have showed up to Las Vegas Ballpark, home of the Aviators, their Triple-A affiliate, but it is the first time that the team will be in Southern Nevada since the organization announced their intentions to relocate away from Oakland.
This weekend should be interesting.
A's owner John Fisher and team president Dave Kaval will be available to the media upon request, which will certainly lead to some headlines in the coming days. Also available to the media will be Bjarke Ingels, the design lead for the new ballpark and former A's greats Rollie Fingers and Jose Canseco. Fingers is currently serving as a special assistant to the president.
Billy Owens, the assistant general manager and director of player personnel will also be available, just in case someone wants to talk about the team on the field.
On the field, Mitch Spence, the Rule 5 draftee attempting to make the Opening Day roster, will get the start on Friday night, followed by JP Sears on Saturday. Both games will be played against the Milwaukee Brewers. The A's will actually be facing Milwaukee three times this weekend in two days, with split-squad games scheduled both in Las Vegas and at the Brewers' home park in Arizona.
Among those traveling for the A's will be a number of the younger players on the roster, both those that are expected to start the season in Oakland, and those that are expected to be in the big leagues at some point during the 2024 season.
The A's are taking steps to make a good impression in what could potentially be their new home by making Fisher and Kaval available, and also sending some of the young guys for this two-game series that could potentially be part of the core group of players once the team's proposed ballpark opens in 2028.
There are also a number of players listed that are expected to be playing in Las Vegas this coming season on the minor-league roster, and this not only gives the fans some familiarity with the players, but the guys on the roster to check out where they'll be playing for the next several months.
The players not listed on the travel roster will be playing back in Arizona as the other half of the split-squad plays against the Brewers on Friday afternoon, and the Giants on Saturday. Ross Stripling will be starting for Oakland on Friday, while Kyle Muller will get the nod against San Francisco the following day.