![\"Athletics](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/8423_20250825_HR_AsVTigers.JPG\" "\\"Athletics")
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Athletics first base Nick Kurtz high fives his teammates after scoring a home run during a game against the Detroit Tigers at Sutter Health Park in Sacramento on Monday, Aug. 25.<\/p>\n
HANNAH RUHOFF<\/p>\n
hruhoff@sacbee.com<\/p>\n
The Athletics begin their 2026 home season Friday evening<\/a> against the Houston Astros at Sutter Health Park \u2014 Year 2 of a three-year stay before the team\u2019s planned move to Las Vegas in 2028.<\/p>\n The season arrives as Sacramento-area leaders prepare to formally launch a bid for a permanent MLB expansion team this May.<\/p>\n Here are key takeaways:<\/p>\n \u2022 What\u2019s new this season: The A\u2019s added \u201cSacramento Saturdays\u201d with locally themed giveaways and gold jerseys with green \u201cSacramento\u201d lettering. Night games now start at 6:40 p.m. \u2014 25 minutes earlier than last year \u2014 and select $8 tickets<\/a> will be available for April and May games.<\/p>\n \u2022 The Dodgers are coming: The two-time defending World Series champions visit June 29-July 1 \u2014 one of five National League teams making their first trip to Sutter Health Park this season.<\/p>\n \u2022 Six games move to Las Vegas: The A\u2019s will play six \u201chome\u201d games at Las Vegas Ballpark in June, reducing Sutter Health Park\u2019s schedule to 75 home games instead of 81.<\/p>\n \u2022 How good are the A\u2019s? Most preseason rankings placed the A\u2019s in the 20s<\/a> out of 30 teams. Experts praised a young, powerful lineup led by unanimous 2025 AL Rookie of the Year Nick Kurtz but called the pitching staff \u201cworrisome.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2022 Year 1\u2019s economic impact was modest: West Sacramento estimated a roughly $870,000 revenue increase from the A\u2019s \u2014 equivalent to about 1% of the city\u2019s $80 million general fund. City Manager Aaron Laurel called it significant but not \u201cgame-changing.\u201d Results for nearby businesses were mixed.<\/p>\n \u2022 The expansion push is on: Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty and West Sacramento Mayor Martha Guerrero plan to launch a formal campaign this spring for one of two expected MLB expansion teams. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has said he wants to have a \u201cprocess in place\u201d for the expansion<\/a> to 32 teams, including cities for each team selected<\/a>, by the time he retires in 2029, ESPN and CBS Sports have previously reported.<\/p>\n This report was produced with the assistance of a proprietary tool powered by artificial intelligence based on our own originally reported, written and published content. Before publishing, journalists reviewed this content in compliance with McClatchy Media\u2019s AI policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n Clarification: This story has been updated with more specific language regarding Commissioner Rob Manfred’s plan for MLB expansion.<\/p>\n This story was originally published April 3, 2026 at 3:00 PM.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Athletics first base Nick Kurtz high fives his teammates after scoring a home run during a game against…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":251361,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,122],"class_list":["post-251360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251360"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251360\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}