Today on Pinstripe Alley - 11/17/23

I wish I could begin the Today on PSA post for Friday in a more pleasant manner, but I’m borderline sick to my stomach about the damn Oakland A’s. No one would ever dare to claim that the Coliseum as is would be a real MLB site, but it’s sure as hell better than whatever vague promises that current owner John Fisher and the league are making out of Las Vegas. There’s no guarantee yet that the tiny sauna of a new ballpark will be built, they’ll be vagabonds from 2025-27, and Fisher could absolutely afford to spare some personal capital to build something new in Oakland anyway.

Instead, they’re burning their Bay Area fanbase to the ground — one that has seen four championships and oh-so-many playoff games — all for the service of the occasional tourist who wants to hang out in the Nevada sun to watch Shea Langeliers. Great. Wonderful. Gonna puke! (And no, I have no faith that Fisher can capably build his operation up like the Vegas Golden Knights.)

Today on the site, Peter will preview erstwhile Blue Jays third baseman Matt Chapman as a potential free agent target and Sam will grade the serviceable Clarke Schmidt’s 2023 season. Later on, Esteban will remember a ‘60s/’70s pitcher who became famous for non-baseball reasons in our next Top 100 post, and Madison will answer your mailbag questions.

Questions/Prompts:

1. How long do you think the A’s will last in Las Vegas?

2. Is there any particular market (aside from Oakland, for the sake of discussion) that you would rather see get a team than Vegas?