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The San Jose City Council has voted to sue Major League Baseball for its refusal to allow the Oakland Athletics to move to San Jose, the city announced. Commissioner Bud Selig has been named a defendant in the suit.
"This action arises from the blatant conspiracy by Major League Baseball to prevent the Athletics Baseball Club from moving to San Jose," according to the suit. "This action challenges -- and seeks to remedy -- Defendants' violation of state laws and use of the illegal cartel that results from these agreements to eliminate competition in the playing of games in the San Francisco Bay Area."
San Jose officials claim the city has lost millions of dollars -- including $3.5 million annually in property taxes -- and hundreds of jobs due to MLB's actions. The suit says a new ballpark would generate approximately $130 million in extra spending cash every year.
"Major League Baseball is going to be significantly affected by the loss of the antitrust exemption and I think this case will be the case to challenge it," said Joseph Cotchett, the city's attorney. The Athletics are technically a defendant in the suit, but it does not seek any damages from the club.
"I have no details," said Athletics owner Lew Wolff to Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times when asked about the lawsuit. "However, I am not in favor of legal action or legal threats to solve business issues."
Shaikin notes San Jose is unlikely to win the suit, however. It's likely their objective is to gain a favorable settlement from MLB in exchange for keeping Selig off the stand.
We first heard the city was considering a lawsuit back in March. The Giants have the territorial rights to San Jose and have blocked a move at every opportunity. MLB has dragged its feet the entire time, though it reportedly gave the A's a set of guidelines to meet as a prerequisite for a potential move in February.
It's unclear if this weekend's raw sewage incident at the Coliseum helped push things along. Wolff called the team's stadium situation "a bunch of crap" and "a sad situation" following the incident, which forced both the A's and Mariners to shower in the Raiders' locker room.
