How Could A's Relocation Affect the Diamondbacks?

Could realignment, public funding, and even relocation all be on the table for the D-backs as a result of the A's moves?

The big news coming out of the MLB Owners meetings is the vote on relocation of the Oakland A' to Las Vegas starting for the 2028 season was approved unanimously. Might the Diamondbacks end up in the same division as the Las Vegas A's?  At the same time, the examples of public funding deals not only for the A's, but also recently the Tampa Bay Rays and Milwaukee Brewers loom large. These examples are not lost on the Diamondbacks leadership as they seek to resolve their own stadium issues. 

Realignment is an oft discussed topic, usually in the context of expansion. It has long been rumored that MLB will expand to 32 teams, and if they do, realignment would accompany that expansion. In any realignment scenario, the geographic proximity between Phoenix and Las Vegas might be too close to resist.

The Diamondbacks stadium situation, while not the same as that in Oakland, has some similarities.  The A's lease at the Coliseum ends at the end of next season.  The plan now is to build a new stadium on the Las Vegas strip to be ready for 2028.  There are many hurdles the A's still need to clear to get the funding finalized and the stadium built in time however.  Up to a third of the cost to build the stadium is slated to be funded by public money, but there is some local opposition to that, naturally. Moreover where the A's will play the 2025-2028 seasons is unclear.  They might stay in the Coliseum, or they may play in a minor league stadium in Sacramento.  

Similarly, the lease at Chase Field runs out after the 2027 season. The D-backs have continually put off the timeline for making a decision on whether to renovate Chase Field and stay put or attempt to build a new stadium.  The organization has been trying to secure funding  for either option,  and clearly they are looking for public contributions.  Recently Diamondbacks President and CEO Derrick Hall spoke with Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic stating:

“I’m starting to get concerned with the timing, I don’t think the city officials in particular understand the urgency of our lease, which expires in 2027.......We don’t have our hand out, but if you look at some of the other situations very similar to ours — like Milwaukee, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Baltimore — in each case they are getting strong investments from the public, from a mixture of city/county/state, and we just aren’t,”

So far they have not been able to strike a deal. The decision on whether to renovate Chase Field or build new was supposed to be made by mid summer, according to Hall's interview last spring. That time came and went.  The clock is ticking. If the D-backs are to have a new stadium, they need to finalize a deal deal pretty much right now, and get shovels in the ground before the end of 2024. 

It's notable that the Tampa Bay Rays just secured nearly $600 million in public funds to build a new $1.3 billion stadium.  The  Wisconsin Legislature just approved $500 million in public funds to upgrade American Family Field for the Brewers.  These recent examples certainly loom large in the Diamondbacks calculus. 

MLB is known to be a copycat league. What happens if they don't get the public funding they are seeking?  Could the Diamondbacks consider relocation as well?  As unthinkable as that may be, nothing can be ruled out until the D-backs resolve their stadium situation. 

Other Owners meetings notes:

Pitch Timer

During the NLCS in Philadelphia I spoke with Executive Vice President of MLB Operations, Morgan Sword, about the fact that the average time of game increased each month in 2023, despite the pitch timer. Early returns showed a time of game to be about 2:36, but that grew each month, ending up at 2:44 by September.  Sword said MLB was working on that and their solution appears to be reducing the time between between pitches with men on base from 20 seconds to 18 seconds. MLB has been experimenting with shorter times in the minor leagues.

Automatic Balls and Strikes, i.e. "Robo Umps"

Sources inform me that topic was not on the agenda at these meetings, as the system is deemed simply not ready yet.  The absolute earliest MLB might begin to implement an ABS system would be in 2025, but even that may be too soon.  There is still much debate in MLB about whether teams should go to full ABS or use a challenge system. Both were used in the minor leagues last year and the league is still studying and evaluating. For now don't expect any changes however. 

Ken Kendrick and Derrick Hall Address Media at Spring Training

Pitch Clock Impact on D-backs in Regular and Postseason Games