MESA, Ariz. – A Major League Baseball official said Sunday that no decision has been reached on the A’s efforts to build a ballpark in San Jose.
The issue came to light after the New York Daily News reported Saturday that commissioner Bud Selig was likely to uphold the Giants’ territorial rights to San Jose, which would end the A’s plans to relocate there.
“Nothing’s changed,” said the source within the commissioner’s office. “The committee has been meeting. We were very surprised by (the New York Daily News story). No determinations have been made at all regarding the A’s situation.”
A’s general manager Billy Beane said he read the story but declined to address it in detail.
“There’s no sense in commenting on a writer’s speculation, which is exactly what that was,” Beane said.
It has been nearly three years since Selig dispatched a committee to study the A’s stadium options. The A’s wish to build a ballpark in downtown San Jose, but the Giants oppose a team moving to the South Bay.
– First-base candidate Brandon Allen had seven RBIs, including a grand slam, as the A’s beat the Cubs 12-10 to move to 2-1 in Cactus League play.
The last A’s player to have seven RBIs in a regular-season game was Jack Cust on Aug. 10, 2007, against Detroit. Past Cactus League results are tougher to track down.
“Every time I got up, somebody was on,” Allen said. “Hopefully I’ll be in that position, driving in runs.”
The A’s entered camp with no clear front-runner at first base in a pool that includes Allen, Daric Barton, Chris Carter and Kila Ka’aihue.
– Brandon McCarthy pitched three innings and allowed two earned runs and four hits in his first spring start.
Sean Doolittle, converted from a first baseman, threw a scoreless inning with a walk and two strikeouts.
In the day’s oddest sequence, catcher Kurt Suzuki picked two consecutive Cubs runners off first base.
– Barton, who just recently had a cortisone shot in his surgically repaired right shoulder, is being bothered by biceps tendinitis that might require another shot.
His inability to stay on the field makes him a long shot for the first-base job.
