On Friday, reports came out that the San Diego Padres are set to be sold to José E. Feliciano and his wife Kwanza Jones for a record $3.9 billion. That news is great for MLB owners, who have now seen one of the league’s 30 teams sell for a new record price, which indicates that the game is healthy and that their own franchise values may be a bit higher than the projected figures.

The Padres had been projected at a value of around $3.4 billion, so this is quite the step up. The A’s have been recently valued at between $2 billion to $2.5 billion with the move to Las Vegas helping pump up that figure.

So how does this impact Sacramento’s own bid for a full-time Major League Baseball team through expansion? Well the mayor already laid out his plan, and now we have more details.

Sacramento’s expansion plan

According to previous quotes from Mayor Kevin McCarty, the city’s plan has been to reach out to whomever ended up finishing in second place for the Padres, and attempt to convince them to join the Sacramento project.

According to The Athletic, the other prospective owners in the mix were Tom Gores, owner of the Detroit Pistons, Joe Lacob, owner of the Golden State Warriors, and Dan Friedkin, who owns Everton of the Premier League. Gores is also a minority stake owner of the Los Angeles Chargers.

Sacramento could go with any of these three prospective owners, but Lacob would make the most sense since he is from the Bay Area and has previously attempted to purchase the A’s in the past. Moving an hour and a half up north wouldn’t be the worst scenario for him.

The one problem with Lacob is that he is the projected savior for some San Francisco Giants fans, who want him to buy their club, and also the No. 1 shot that fans in Oakland would have at landing an expansion team back in the East Bay.

Lacob’s options

Lacob has at least a couple of paths forward in an expansion bid, but the big question will be which path he wants to go down. If he were to go with Sacramento, there is seemingly a little more legwork already done on a potential bid. The big missing piece is securing the majority owner to represent the city (along with securing funding, etc.).

Lacob’s other option would be to spearhead a campaign to resurrect Major League Baseball in Oakland. That option would be much closer to the Warriors operations, and would allow for some easier cross-branding for him. He could also look to get someone like Steph Curry involved in the ownership group. That would be a little tougher in Sacramento, with the Kings rivalry.

One other factor to keep an eye out for would be what it would be saying if Lacob does choose the Sacramento path. That could be a sign that he believes the city helping out the A’s during their relocation is a real point in the city’s favor, and he would be looking to hitch his wagon to the winning horse.

More information about Sacramento’s bid for expansion is expected to come out in May.

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