MLB player poll makes it clear as day John Fisher's plan for Athletics will fail miserably

Oakland has suffered a mass exodus of professional sports over the past several years. The Golden State Warriors moved across the Bay Bridge to San Francisco in 2019 and the Las Vegas Raiders left for Sin City in 2020. Now, the Oakland Athletics are desperately attempting to find their way to the exit.

The Athletics and Raiders both played in the Oakland Coliseum, an aging arena that had become outdated compared to other MLB and NFL teams. When Athletics owner John Fisher couldn't secure public assistance to subsidize a new venue, he opted to follow the Raiders to Las Vegas instead.

Fisher was able to secure the consent of at least 75 percent of the league's owners to move the team, finalizing that Oakland would lose the Major League Baseball club after 55 years of residence.

MLB players don't seem too happy about the Athletics' move either

The Athletic's annual MLB player poll interviewed more than 100 players across 18 teams in both the American and National Leagues. While the players' opinions varied for most of the questions, many of them seemed to agree on one particular question: What organizations have bad reputations among players?

Forty of the 79 players who responded to the question named the Oakland Athletics as a team with a bad reputation, the highest response overall. While the reasoning varied, most players cited the organization's lack of spending or player development as reasons for the negative perception.

“I mean, have you seen what they’re doing to the city of Oakland and their fans?” one player said.

Fisher has alienated the passionate Oakland fanbase by showing no commitment to winning or investing capital to improve the roster. With a poor on-field product and low payroll, it's clear Fisher is solely focused on moving the team before attempting to build it — if he builds it all.

"It doesn't seem like they want to win," said another.

The Athletics are planning to move to Las Vegas after the 2028 season, but — as with all things John Fisher — it's a hard timeline to trust.

The organization would have to break ground on a new stadium soon if they want to remain on schedule to play in Las Vegas in 2028, but Fisher may not be able to afford to do so unless he sells some of his stake in the team. Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said, "In terms of selling pieces of the club, I don't think John [Fisher] has a necessity of effectuating any of that in order to meet his timeline."

In the meantime, the Athletics will move to Sacramento in 2025, where they will play in a Triple-A stadium until 2028 — or longer.

"I've heard Oakland is pretty rough," a third player said. "Sacramento for three years? I've been to that ballpark before. They can't find something better?"

Since Sacramento's minor-league stadium is not suited to hold a major-league team, Fisher is planning on building a clubhouse outside of the stadium. The Athletics will be adding artificial turf and upgraded camera capability for broadcasting in Sacramento. And, predictably, Fisher will add some "revenue-associated renovations" such as club seating.