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Commissioner Rob Manfred spoke with reporters Thursday about several topics, including the Athletics\u2019 ongoing plans to build a new ballpark in Las Vegas and move the franchise from Oakland, via Susan Slusser and Tim Kawahara<\/a> of the San Francisco Chronicle. Over the last two days, the planned move seemingly took a notable step forward, as the A\u2019s and Nevada state officials\u00a0<\/span>reached a tentative agreement<\/a> on a plan to provide $380M of public money toward the construction of a new ballpark (worth roughly $1.5 billion) on the site of the Tropicana Hotel in Vegas.<\/p>\n Although the Tropicana location is the second Las Vegas site the A\u2019s have pursued in under two months, \u201cI think they\u2019re pretty settled on a site [now],\u201d Manfred said. Mick Akers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal<\/a> also reports that the A\u2019s are solely looking at the Tropicana site and not considering other options.<\/p>\n As to whether or not the Athletics\u2019 plan will come to fruition, Manfred said that he is \u201coptimistic about [a move] happening,\u201d but that \u201cit\u2019s very difficult to have a timeline for Oakland until there\u2019s actually a deal to be considered. There is a relocation process internally that they need to go through, and we haven\u2019t even started that process.\u2026I don\u2019t have a crystal ball as to where anything\u2019s going. There is not a definitive deal done in Las Vegas and we\u2019ll have to see how that plays out.\u201d<\/p>\n The most obvious roadblock at this point is the fact that the state of Nevada\u2019s contribution to the ballpark is one of many items that hasn\u2019t been approved as part of the state budget. As outlined by\u00a0<\/span>Taylor R. Avery of the Las Vegas Review-Journal<\/a>, Nevada\u2019s Senate and Assembly haven\u2019t been able to agree with Gov. Joe Lombardo on several aspects of the budget, with Lombardo threatening to veto the Nevada Legislature\u2019s budget proposal \u201cuntil the policy priorities that I spelled out on day one are on my desk.\u201d The Athletics\u2019 proposal is naturally one of the newer elements to Lombardo\u2019s spending plans. However, it’s likely not even the most controversial, as Avery notes that there is a great deal of controversy of several education-related spending priorities that are or aren\u2019t included in the budget to date.<\/p>\n It remains to be seen exactly when or how the budget impasses could be resolved, but Nevada\u2019s legislative session ends on June 5. However, if the ballpark funding issue is solved by then, Manfred said that it is \u201cpossible that a relocation vote could happen as early as June,\u201d presumably during the upcoming owners\u2019 meetings. Seventy-five percent of MLB owners would have to vote in favor of the proposal in order for the A\u2019s to officially set their sights on Las Vegas, and a departure from Oakland that would coincide with the end of their lease at the Coliseum following the 2024 season.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n