If you have one of those weird baseball caps that's half Giants, half A's, we've got some good news for you. You might get to wear it as soon as next month.
The Giants and A's traditionally play three exhibitions between spring training and Opening Day, and they're working on setting up games in late July ahead of MLB's return on July 23.
"We're in conversations with them," president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said. "I think we're both kind of hopeful that we can figure something out and play at least a couple of games."
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The two Bay Area teams have an advantage over division rivals simply because of their location. MLB's operations manual allows spring training games but the league must approve them, and travel is limited this season. The thought is that most teams will try and play two or three games against teams in their area or the team that they will face on Opening Day. That's a slight advantage for the Los Angeles, New York and Chicago teams, along with the Giants and A's.
If the sides are able to schedule games, they'll be played under new rules. MLB is allowing managers to end exhibition innings unilaterally, meaning the pitcher's manager can end any inning prior to three outs if the pitcher has thrown at least 25 pitches already. Games will end in ties if they go to extra innings and substitution rules are relaxed.
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As always, the Giants and A's will face off during the regular season. They're expected to meet in six of their 60 games, making the rivalry more meaningful than at any point in the last 30 years.
Giants, A's hoping to play exhibition games before MLB's July return originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
