MLB Notebook: Amazon invests in Diamond Sports, A’s consider possibility of playing in Salt Lake City, and more

Oakland Athletics officials will visit Salt Lake City to tour Smith’s Ballpark, the home of the Los Angeles Angels AAA affiliate Salt Lake Bees, with the possibility to play there in 2025. The Athletics lease with the Oakland Coliseum expires at the end of 2024, but their brand-new stadium in Las Vegas will not be ready until 2028. 

Oakland officials have numerous stadiums around the western United States including Sutter Health Park, home of the Giants Triple-A affiliate Sacramento River Cats, which they have already toured. Other stadiums also on the A’s list consist of Greater Nevada Field, home of the Reno Aces (Arizona Diamondbacks, Las Vegas Ballpark, home of the Las Vegas Aviators (Oakland A’s), and the San Francisco Giants, Oracle Park.

Smith’s Ballpark originally opened in 1994 as Franklin Quest Field and currently houses the Salt Lake Bees and the University of Utah Utes baseball team. The inaugural game at Franklin Quest Field was between the Salt Lake Bees and the Edmonton Trappers on April 11th, 1994, where the Trappers would go on to win a 7-1 ballgame. 

The ballpark currently holds a 14,511 capacity, which would still be over four thousand than the average attendance at Oakland Coliseum last season. The A’s averaged 10,275 fans per game in 2023, also four-thousand short of the 29th worst attendance from the Miami Marlins. 

The Athletics aren’t the only team to seek a new home stadium in recent years. In 2020 the Tampa Bay Rays suggested that they were looking at splitting their home games between Tropicana Field in Tampa and Montreal’s Olympic Stadium. That plan was eventually axed after the MLB rejected the plan. The Rays and the city of St. Petersburg would eventually come to an agreement to build a new stadium in downtown St. Pete, which will be ready for the 2028 season. 

Quick Notes:

• Josh Hader signs with the Houston Astros. Hader and the Astros came to an agreement on a five-year, $95 million deal on Friday. 
• Blue Jays sign top International Pitcher, Yariel Rodriguez. The Cuban righty’s deal is still pending a physical and immigration status.
• Matt Carpenter and the St. Louis Cardinals agree on a one-year deal. The Cards will pay Carpenter $740K, while the Atlanta Braves will still owe $5.5 of his guaranteed money. 
• San Francisco Giants to hand out Mickey Mouse ears for Dodgers first visit in 2024. The Giants will be hosting a “Disneyland Day” on June 30th, presumably a shot at either the Dodgers’ offseason or their 2020 World Series Championship during the pandemic.