Seattle Mariners catcher Tom Murphy wears a wrist-worn device used to call pitches as he catches a ball during the sixth inning of a spring training baseball game against the Kansas City Royals, Tuesday, March 29, 2022, in Peoria, Ariz. The MLB is experimenting with the PitchCom system where the catcher enters information on a wrist band with nine buttons which is transmitted to the pitcher to call a pitch. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
(KRON) — Could Major League Baseball come to San Jose? Matt Mahan, the city’s mayor, penned a letter to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred pushing back against the unusual rule preventing baseball’s biggest league from coming to the South Bay.
MLB has a “territorial rights” rule in place that does not allow a team in San Jose due to its proximity to San Francisco, home of the Giants. Instead, the South Bay has the San Jose Giants, the Single-A minor league affiliate of the Giants.
In his letter written on June 15, Mahan claims that the territorial rights rule is specific to San Jose. He said not only is San Jose the only city impacted by MLB’s territorial rights rule, but the rule also does not impact any other city nationwide in any other professional sports league.
In 2013, the Giants opposed a proposed A’s move to San Jose, according to reporting by the Los Angeles Times. The A’s would have needed 22 of MLB’s clubs to join them in voting in favor of the move to rescind the Giants’ territorial rights, per the LA Times. Of course, the A’s stayed in Oakland and are now working on a move to Las Vegas.
“While we appreciate why San Jose is special, you can imagine why we find such special treatment unnecessary–and unfairly stifling,” Mahan said.
Mahan said the territorial rights rule originated in the 1990s when the Giants’ then-owner Bob Lurie tried to build a stadium in San Jose. The A’s owner at the time, Walter Haas, allowed the Giants to have the South Bay, per Mahan.
“While Haas apparently conceded those rights without any legal consideration, the Giants have exploited Haas’ goodwill to the detriment of everyone else in MLB,” Mahan said.
Mahan made the case for San Jose by comparing it to San Francisco and Oakland. He said mentioned that his city has a larger population than the two Bay Area cities that have MLB teams and pointed out Silicon Valley’s hefty $410 billion GDP.
“We welcome any communication with you or your office that will hasten the release of San Jose and Silicon Valley from the real or imagined constraints of “territorial rights.” For whatever purgatory we have endured, we believe it is now long past time to release Prometheus from the rock. We welcome your reply,” Mahan’s letter concluded.
