MLB Owners: Oakland is “Past its Time” for A's

The city of Oakland has plenty of fans, just not at the Major League Baseball winter meetings.

A's owner Lew Wolff has many boosters at the annual powwow of MLB executives, however -- Wolff, and his plan to move the team to San Jose.

"I'm totally supportive of Lew getting a new ballpark and going to San Jose," said White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, in comments to the San Francisco Chronicle. "He needs to be there. It has to come to a head soon."

Wolff and the A's have long made clear their intention to exit the East Bay city for friendlier climes. A stadium plan for Fremont floated in the mid-2000s seemed imminent before the real estate market collapsed. Now, Wolff is eying land in east San Jose for a stadium. The plan would need approval from MLB and the Giants.

Oakland hasn't made any serious moves towards refurbishing the Coliseum, and ideas for a field at Jack London Square have not gotten off of the drawing board.

"Certainly, (the Coliseum is) past its time. In my opinion, Oakland's past its time, too," Reinsdorff added. "Oakland's had plenty of opportunity to build a stadium and hasn't gotten it done."