When it comes to Commissioner Rob Manfred’s treatment of struggling franchises, the Oakland Athletics got the cold shoulder while the Tampa Bay Rays received the red carpet. The stark contrast has ignited accusations of MLB’s blatant double standard—one that abandoned Oakland fans while bending over backward to keep Tampa Bay’s team in Florida.

The smoking gun sits in plain sight—a tale of two franchises that exposes MLB’s rigged game. While Manfred and ownership cronies huddled in March backrooms, scheming to pressure Stu Sternberg into selling the Rays to keep them in Florida, Oakland’s Athletics faced a kangaroo court. Thirty owners rubber-stamped the A’s Las Vegas relocation with suspicious unanimity, then sweetened the betrayal by waiving a $300 million relocation fee. Same crisis, opposite treatment—baseball’s favoritism isn’t just obvious, it’s institutionalized.

Sports broadcaster Brodie Brazil didn’t mince words when dissecting this hypocrisy on his YouTube channel. “MLB’s double standard for what was going on in Tampa and what was going on in Oakland,” Brazil observed. “When did Rob Manfred ever come out to Oakland, even to meet with the mayor one-on-one? If I recall, the mayor had to go find the commissioner at the 2023 All-Star game up in Seattle.” The contrast cuts deep—California’s governor never pursued Manfred, and nobody stood up for Oakland’s cause.

Brazil’s most pointed criticism targeted the favoritism shown to Florida. “Rob Manfred and baseball basically assured Rays’ fans that the team would not be leaving the state of Florida… But Rob Manfred was so insistent on coming to Florida, ironing this out, being proactive. None of that ever took place on the Oakland side of things.” The unanimous approval of Oakland’s move particularly galled Brazil: “Baseball also unanimously approved the A’s relocation and then waved relocation fees… When do you ever get 30 people in a room to unanimously agree on anything these days?” MLB has agreed to waive the standard relocation fee, which would have been as much as $300 million for the A’s move—a financial gift that speaks volumes about the league’s priorities.

That same generosity now fuels the A’s Vegas construction boom. While Tampa Bay gets rescued and Oakland gets abandoned, the desert palace rises with MLB’s blessing.

MLB Backs A’s Vegas Stadium Push

The hypocrisy stings even more when you see what the A’s are building with MLB’s blessing. Two months after their flashy Strip groundbreaking, the Vegas stadium project shifted into overdrive—proving this relocation nightmare is painfully real for Oakland fans.

Foundation pilings now pierce the desert floor, hundreds of workers swarm the construction site daily, and vertical construction looms within weeks. This isn’t ceremonial theater anymore—it’s an actual ballpark building that hammers home Oakland’s loss.

A’s president Marc Badain delivered the construction timeline with measured confidence to Las Vegas Stadium Authority members. “I would hope that we start seeing [vertical work] by the end of September, or early October,” Badain explained. “Some of that prep work has already been done, but there’s obviously so many things you can do until the permitting is in place.”

The real transformation begins once the final permits clear their hurdles. “But as soon as we get that, we’ll see the concrete get poured, and some of the decks will get poured. There’s rebar in place, so you’ll get to see the foundation of the building start to take shape,” Badain detailed.

The 2028 opening date remains etched in stone while the A’s endure their Sacramento purgatory. The franchise wallows in last place despite boosting payroll to $111.6 million—their biggest spending spree in years—creating awkward optics of playing in a minor league park while constructing a $2 billion palace.

Stadium authority chair Steve Hill reinforced owner John Fisher’s financial commitments: “What John committed to was that there would be a public contribution, and he would make sure that the rest was available. Nothing has changed along those lines.” The price tag keeps swelling from initial $1.5 billion estimates for the “spherical armadillo” design, with Fisher covering everything beyond the $380 million public contribution.

The double standard couldn’t be clearer—Manfred forced Sternberg to sell the Rays while handing Fisher a golden ticket to Las Vegas. Oakland deserved better than this rigged game.