Will the A's Build a New Stadium in Oakland After All?

It isn’t exactly news that the Oakland A’s badly need a new ballpark, and on Monday, a new stadium proposal was unveiled.

The details, reported by Matt Snyder of CBS Sports, are that a group in Oakland proposed a $500 million stadium to be built on the waterfront at Howard Terminal. Unfortunately, A’s owner Lew Wolff shot it down.

"All I care about is getting a new home for the A's in the best possible circumstances -- and under any circumstances, Howard Terminal would be as close to impossible as anything," Wolff said.

With the waterfront location effectively thrown out the window, there is still the possibility of a location in Oakland for the new ballpark. Per a report by the San Jose Mercury News, Wolff said that while the waterfront site is not a viable option, “That doesn’t mean there isn’t a place in Oakland where you could do something.”

That place would be the Coliseum complex. Said Wolff, again via the San Jose Mercury News, the most likely location “would be where we’re at right now. On land controlled by (the city and county).”

This news comes while Wolff is also attempting to move the A’s to San Jose. While that proposal has been rejected by MLB, there is still a very legitimate possibility that the A’s could one day build a stadium there.

Even so, it appears that the A's certainly have the resources to stay in the Bay Area, as they have “big-money owners willing not only to build the team a stadium in Oakland, but even buy the team and keep it in Oakland," as noted by the San Francisco Chronicle’s Henry Schulman.

It remains to be seen whether that will actually happen, but for A’s fans, the events of these past couple of days have proven to be some of the best progress they have seen in years. For now, they must continue to hold their breath and hope for the best.