Oakland Affiliate River Cats Looking at Becoming Giants Affiliate

The Sacramento River Cats, Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics, are reporting looking to jump ship from the A’s organization to the San Francisco Giants organization. The news was reported by Susan Slusser, the A’s beat writer for the San Francisco Chronicle.

This news comes has a hard blow for the A’s given that the River Cats are listed by Forbes Magazine as the most valuable minor league team. In addition to the potential loss of the River Cats, the A’s are still fighting MLB and the Giants over territorial rights to San Jose, where the A’s would like to build a new stadium.

While there no guarantee that a change of affiliate will be made, it’s clear that the River Cats are going to consider all options.

"One source said it’s possible that River Cats CEO Susan Savage is “trying to play hardball” with the A’s but added that it’s unlikely Oakland would knuckle under to pressure from an affiliate. A’s officials spoke to Sacramento about extending their agreement and were told that the River Cats would wait to see how the season went. – River Cats eyeing Giants affiliation – Susan Slusser, San Francisco Chronicle"

In Slusser’s article she pointed out that both the River Cats and the Giants Triple-A team, the Fresno Grizzlies affiliate contracts are up at the end of this season. If the Giants have a mutual interest the timing couldn’t have worked out better.

The Giants have had essentially zero success with their Triple-A team in Fresno. They’ve only won one division title since moving there, and they weren’t even in their current home of Chukchansi Park when that happened. The attendance at Grizzlies games is dismal to say the least. With the popularity of the Giants, and the success of the River Cats in getting fans to the games, it could be a match made in heaven for the Giants. At the very least, they would almost certainly listen to any proposal the River Cats made them.

If the Giants moved to Sacramento and the A’s teamed up with the Fresno team, all players and coaches would go with their respective organizations. That means making the move may not help the Triple-A Giants on the field.

The River Cats released a statement yesterday stating that they “value” their relationship with the A’s, however they would evaluate once the season concluded.

The Giants organization or the Fresno ownership group have yet to address the media speculation. I wouldn’t expect them to do so, since the decision on whether or not to ditch the A’s lays solely with the owners of the River Cats.