For years, the worst-kept secret in Major League Baseball was that the Oakland Athletics would be moving out of Oakland. Despite a variety of different plans to build a new stadium, it seemed pretty clear that owner John Fisher never had any
intention of staying. He also didn’t show much interest in fielding a good
team.

Fisher became managing partner of the Athletics in 2017 and since
then, the team has been – to put it kindly – one of the thriftiest in the Majors.
In fact, during the last seven years, the club finished with the lowest or second-lowest
payroll three times. For 2023, the A’s were dead last, with a payroll of just over
$43 million. To put that into context, the New York Mets had the highest payroll, over $334 million.

In addition to not trying to create a competitive team,
Fisher didn’t seem to care about making any upgrades to the Oakland Coliseum,
even if it meant people were encountering wild animals: