Elephant Rumblings: A’s to play on grass in Sacramento

MLB news roundup

Welcome to Tuesday everyone!

Late yesterday evening we got final word regarding a few key details about the stadium that the team will be playing in next season. While we knew they would be playing at Sutter Health Field in Sacramento for the 2024 season there were a lot of questions regarding major-league teams playing in a minor league ballpark. The biggest question mark was the playing field itself. Everyone knows that Sacramento during the summer gets obscenely hot during the middle of the day, when the A’s will be playing a lot of their games. While there’s really no way to avoid the sun for the coming seasons, the playing surface is something the team can control.

The Sacramento River Cats have used turf since their inception due to the fact that it’s cheaper to maintain. The problem however is that it also absorbs heat and it noticeably hotter than grass during a hot day. Can you imagine the number of burns outfielders have gotten from sliding plays? While it’s the highest level of the minor leagues it’s still just Triple-A and it’s easy to see why Sutter Health Field has used turf.

Well that’s all about to change. The Athletics will be bringing grass to the stadium with them, undoubtedly pleasing all major league outfielders, both Athletics players and rival outfielders:

There was a serious question of if owner John Fisher would seriously cheap out and continue going with the artificial turf. It’s likely that the MLBPA took issue with that intention and got ahead of it before the offseason truly begins. It’s going to cost a lot of money to water and maintain the outfield but the players will be glad to have the change before even being forced to take the field with it.

That wasn’t the only bit of news regarding the Sacramento stadium. Along with the announcement of the switch from turf to grass, the team will also be revamping areas all over the stadium aimed at player comfort level instead of fan-centered changes:

Again, the players will welcome the upgrades as they’ll get at least a semi-feel of playing in a major-league quality facility instead of a minor league ballpark. And wait! There’s even more for the players!

Again, all of this is likely due to the fact the MLBPA heard from current players about the substandard conditions at Sutter Health Field because some if not most of them have likely played at least one game there and know what it’s like. These upgrades were going to happen sooner or later and now it turns out the answer is sooner. Now we will be keeping our eyes and ears open for upgrades for the fans instead of the players. Anything you’d like to see the team do to make the fan experience better at games?

Have an excellent Tuesday Athletics Nation.

MLB News & Interest:

• Yankees-Dodgers World Series tickets top $1,300 on resale market
• Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortes likely to rejoin team for World Series
• Cubs infielder Nico Hoerner undergoes right flexor tendon surgery
• World Series Roster Notes: Cortes, Graterol, Vesia
• Padres plan to discuss extension with manager Mike Shildt
• Today in Baseball History

Best of X:

Two names you might know: former starter Rich Hill and outfield prospect Colby Thomas:

On yesterday’s date***:

A salary floor might have kept our most recent cores intact…