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The Giants don’t seem poised to make any huge moves this offseason. Even if they do wind up trading one of their left-handed relievers, there’s a decent chance it won’t be for major league-ready talent, which means the most impactful on-field move before Opening Day could very well be the organization signing an agreement with the ::shudders:: Oakland Raiders to play at AT&T Park* next season.
This comes from the City of Oakland’s lawsuit against the team for their allegedly unlawful move from Oakland to Las Vegas. The Las Vegas Black Hole won’t be ready for next season, so the Raiders will need somewhere to play. Football won’t be a new thing on Mays Field and a pro football team also won’t be a novelty (Vince McMahon’s XFL league had a team in San Francisco — please don’t ask me to remember any of the details).
But it’s the Raiders. To a greater extent, it’s the NFL, too, and for an organization (the Giants) who are trying to advertise their social justice bona fides in light of recent events, associating itself with both a bad league and a really poorly run franchise isn’t a good luck. Of course, when there’s money to be made, it doesn’t matter what it looks like, so long as there’s money gained in the exchange.
And then there’s one final matter. As Henry Schulman noted on Twitter the other night, the stadium naming rights deal with AT&T ends after the season. We could very well be looking at Facebook Field or Uber Park in 2020. Happy Holidays!