Bill to Require Compensation for MLB Relocation Introduced amid A's Las Vegas Move

Amid the Oakland Athletics' ongoing plans to move to Las Vegas, Congresswoman Barbara Lee has introduced the Moneyball Act, which would require teams that leave their hometown to compensate the communities they are departing.

Specifically, the act states that any MLB team that goes to a new location more than 25 miles from its previous one must provide compensation "not less than the State, local and or Tribal tax revenue levied in the ten years prior to the date of relocation; and paid respectively to each State, local and or Tribal government which levied taxes on the club in ten years prior to the date of relocation."

The act further states that failure to provide payment would lead to "persons in the business of organized professional baseball" no longer being allowed to be exempt from antitrust laws. Per The Athletic, MLB has been exempt from those laws since 1922.

Lee has been a U.S. representative since 1998. She represents California's 12th congressional district, which is located in Alameda County and serves Oakland.

"This legislation will ensure that no city and community is left behind when billionaires decide that lining their own pockets is more important than the community that supports them," said Congresswoman Lee wrote in a statement.

"The Oakland Athletics have been an institution of the East Bay for over half a century. If the A's ownership group decides to leave, Oakland should not be left empty handed."

Congressman Mark DeSaulnier of California's 10th district is introducing the bill alongside Rep. Lee.

The act is named after the book (and later movie) regarding the 2002 Oakland Athletics, a team that won 103 games despite operating with the league's third-lowest payroll and losing star players Jason Giambi and Johnny Damon in free agency.

The A's have been in Oakland since 1968 after moving from Kansas City (1955-1967) by way of Philadelphia (1901-1954). The A's have won six American League pennants and four World Series (1972-1974, 1989) during their time in the Bay Area.