While the Oakland A's stadium drama isn't necessarily breaking news, now MLB commissioner Bud Selig has expressed discontent with the situation.
As the AP reports, Selig is "frustrated" that the A's still don't have a new ballpark, leaving them to sign a new lease at their current one. The A's have wanted to move away from the O.Co Coliseum for the past several years.
"I'm happy the A's have entered into a lease," Selig said in a press conference held at the Coliseum, available via CSN Bay Area/California. "I give both sides a lot of credit for it."
Previously, we noted that the A's ratified a 10-year lease that keeps them at the Coliseum through 2024, with an escape clause in 2018. As that is a done deal, the city of San Jose is still engaged in a federal antitrust lawsuit against MLB regarding the Athletics' not being allowed by the league to relocate from Oakland to the South Bay because the league ruled that San Jose remains Giants territory. Also, A's owner Lew Wolff just met with architects two weeks ago to discuss the possibility of a new baseball-only stadium at the Coliseum site.
"I know there is criticism over the length this has taken," Selig said about the stadium issues. "I'm proud of everything we've done in the last 22 years, but this is one of those things, as I look back on, however, is complicated. It's very complicated. In spite of the fact that people don't think it is, it is. And now we have litigation, so everything is now on hold."
Selig said that the A's ballpark problem reminds him of Milwaukee's County Stadium and New York City's Shea Stadium. "That's not a compliment," he said.
Selig says this is something he always wanted resolved before he left office, and his run as MLB commissioner ends in January. "Once litigation is resolved, then we'll all proceed," he says.
Previously: Oakland A's Staying In Oakland For Another Ten Years [Updated]
