MLB Players On A’s New Sacramento Stadium: ‘It’s Going To Suck’

The Oakland A's are soon to be the Sacramento A's, and players across Major League Baseball are not thrilled about it.

The A's are set to begin construction on their new ballpark in Las Vegas, with a target opening date in January 2028. In the meantime, their home games will be at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento. The San Francisco Chronicle spoke to several players and super agent Scott Boras about their expectations for these next few seasons, and, well, they're not high.

"Being raised in Elk Grove, the summer heat there in the Sacramento area is extraordinary, and if they put artificial turf there, that’s going to magnify the impact of the heat," Boras said. "In the major-league stadiums where there is astroturf, there’s a dome so that the turf doesn’t absorb the heat. Those of us who played on astroturf when it’s outdoors, like I did in the minor leagues, you understand it just releases heat, and you get up into 120-130 degrees in your shoes because you’re absorbing that heat."

San Francisco Giants reliever Sean Hjelle was even more blunt.

"It’s going to suck when it’s 100-115 degrees in June, that’s all there is to it," Hjelle said. 

And that's just the start of it.

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - JULY 27: Scott Boras watches batting practice before the game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Tampa Bay Rays at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on July 27, 2022 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images)

A's New Stadium In Sacramento Won't Have MLB-Level Facilities

Agents the Chronicle spoke to mentioned that facilities and clubhouses at Sutton Health Park won't be remotely close to the level major league players have come to expect. Training rooms and weight rooms will be significantly smaller than other parks, and even things like team bus parking could be harder. Families won't have the same type of treatment they get at other stadiums. And the A's, already at the bottom of the pile as far as free agent destinations goes, will likely fall further behind.

"I’ve had conversations with big-league guys from different organizations about this and they just dismiss it out of hand, like, ‘There’s no way we’ll ever have to do that,’ " said agent Paul Cobbe. "Right now, some of the issues with the A’s playing in Sacramento are frankly a collective bargaining nightmare. When the Blue Jays were in Buffalo, that was force majeure because of COVID, they could change a bunch of collective bargaining stuff immediately. That’s not the case here."

The stadium is also smaller than the average major league park, which could lead to some extreme score lines.

"It’s going to be hot, but it’s going to be a great place to hit," said Rhys Hoskins from the Milwaukee Brewers.

"It’s going to make Cincinnati look like a pitchers’ park," Hjelle said. "Aaron Judge in that park could set a new bar for homers in a series. Someone will, whether it’s him or Juan Soto or Shohei Ohtani."

So why can't the team and Oakland figure out an arrangement to stay at the Coliseum? No one's quite sure, actually, other than spite. Some figures around the league aren't even sure that the A's will ever move to Las Vegas. The franchise is a mess, with one of the league's worst and most unpopular owners. The stadium situation is a mess. The roster is a mess. But hey, given the novelty factor, they'll probably still sell more tickets in Sacramento than they do in Oakland.