The Oakland A’s are dragging their tails into negotiations with the City of Oakland and Alameda County to continue playing at the Oakland Coliseum through 2027, even though they’re still planning to move to Las Vegas, because they don’t have anywhere else to play.

Hey baseball fans, pitchers and catchers report today for Spring Training, for both your San Francisco Giants and Oakland A’s! But it’s bittersweet for A’s fans, as this is supposed to be the A’s final season at Oakland Coliseum, what with their planned move to Las Vegas. The A’s lease at the Oakland Coliseum expires at the end of this season.

Or is it the A's final season in Oakland? Their new stadium at the site of the Tropicana casino has not even broken ground yet, and would not be built and ready to go until 2028 at the earliest. A’s ownership has still not figured out where they will be playing in 2025, 2026, and 2027, and NBC Bay Area reports the A’s are discussing a three-year extension to stay at the Oakland Coliseum in a meeting with Oakland and Alameda County officials today.

The Chronicle reports the people in on the private meeting are A’s President Dave Kaval, Mayor Sheng Thao’s chief of staff Leigh Hanson (though not Sheng Thao herself), Oakland City Council Member Rebecca Kaplan, and Alameda County Supervisor David Haubert.

The A’s seem to have other options, but it’s unclear whether they’re good options. They’ve reportedly examined the Sacramento ballpark that’s home to the Minor League Sacramento River Cats. Salt Lake City, Utah has been rolling out the red carpet to have the A’s play at the Minor League home of the Salt Lake Bees. But the A’s would be on the hook for extensive upgrades to those Minor League ballparks, and it's unclear whether Major League Baseball would even approve this.

They’ve also discussed playing at the Giants' Oracle Park, though it would create massive logistical and scheduling headaches to have two teams playing in the same ballpark.

Mayor Sheng Thao said in a statement to NBC Bay Area that “Keeping the A’s in Oakland is what’s best for Major League Baseball, the A’s, Oakland, and the fans. My door is open to (A’s owner) John Fisher, and to anyone else that has the means and desire to purchase the A’s and keep them rooted in the Town.”

Thao is playing three angles here. You’ll notice that last sentence where she pointedly encourages Fisher to sell the team. But she’s also buying time to hope the whole Las Vegas thing falls through, which would leave the A’s with no other option than to stay in Oakland.

And the third angle is to buy a couple more years of limbo, and force a deal where the A’s name and logo remains in Oakland, for the city to get a new expansion team.

Related: Las Vegas Mayor Comes Out Swinging Against the Idea of the A’s Moving to Vegas [SFist]

Image: Oakland Arena