Misguided A's legends point the finger right at Oakland, not John Fisher, for Coliseum mess

The City of Oakland is certainly reeling at the moment.

In less than a year, the Oakland Athletics will be no more, and will have relocated to become the Las Vegas Athletics. Of course, the blame for this falls squarely on the shoulders of A's owner John Fisher, who has not invested in his team and ultimately punted on any chance at contention in the near future.

The Oakland Coliseum is obviously not the ideal ballpark for a team to play in, and Fisher has not invested in the ballpark either as it continues to deteriorate.

However, A's legends Rickey Henderson and Dave Stewart were quick to point the finger at the City of Oakland rather than Fisher.

"It's disappointing to see the A's leaving," said Henderson, via the San Francisco Chronicle. "But we've gone through so much with all the teams. The city, there's something they're not seeing. When you have a city that had three big-name professional sports teams, and you can't keep any of them, something's wrong. It's sad for the city."

A's legends call out Oakland for Coliseum mess

Ultimately, it's unfair for Henderson and Stewart to call out the City of Oakland, which is essentially getting the short end of the stick in these affairs.

Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao has tried to negotiate an expansion team coming to Oakland when Major League Baseball decides on which cities to give a team to. But that is unfortunately a non-starter for MLB.

All Thao can do is potentially delay the A's move to Las Vegas until 2028, when they'll have their new stadium ready.

"The mayor can say whatever she wants to, but if what I'm reading is true, it's a wrong approach," said Stewart. "She talked about the lack of jobs because they're leaving, but in the meantime, you have an opportunity to keep jobs and create jobs until '28 when they do leave. You're going to try to force baseball to give you an expansion team? It's not the way to go about it.

Ultimately, this process has been completely unfair to the City of Oakland, its fans, and stadium workers at the Coliseum. Thao has even tried to negotiate a lease that would have the A's sell their half of the Coliseum property and delay the move. But no agreement has been reached.

Again, the blame falls on Fisher's shoulders for putting the A's and their fans in this position. Oakland truly is receiving the short end of the stick, and Fisher has been stubborn and unwilling to spend any money to invest in his product.