EDITORIAL: The A’s temporary home? How about Las Vegas?

Barring unforeseen circumstances, the Oakland A’s are headed to Las Vegas. Following the stadium financing agreement at the Legislature, the team has officially started the relocation process, which will culminate in an up-or-down vote by Major League Baseball owners.

“There’s some work that needs to be done,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said. “I’m not going to predict a timeline on that.”

In the meantime, myriad logistical issues remain —not the least of which is where the team will play its home games in coming seasons. A new Las Vegas stadium — at the southeast corner of Tropicana Avenue and the Strip — won’t be completed until 2028 at the earliest.

The Review-Journal’s Mick Akers reported recently that the team plans to play next season at its current home, Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. After that, the club’s lease in Oakland will expire at the end of 2024. “Potential markets in play” for the 2025-2027 seasons, Mr. Akers revealed, “include Las Vegas and Reno, Sacramento and other Bay Area options.”

The Sacramento A’s? C’mon, man. Anywhere but Las Vegas would be a mistake.

The team already has an unactivated agreement in place to play at the Downtown Summerlin ballpark, which is home to Oakland’s Triple-A team, the Aviators, and seats 10,000 fans, more than the A’s currently draw. Aviator President Don Logan said preliminary studies are under way to determine what improvements and arrangements could be made for the major league team to use the ballpark.

Why go anywhere else? Las Vegas has just welcomed the A’s with open arms — and a nice chunk of change for the stadium. Playing at the Summerlin facility — one of the finer minor league stadiums in the country — for two or three years would allow the team to better cultivate a new fan base and to more quickly integrate into the community. It would also represent an easier transition for A’s players than having to make a pit stop in Sacramento or elsewhere only to be uprooted again.

Steve Hill, CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, told Mr. Akers that where the A’s ultimately settle between now and 2028 is a collective bargaining issue that must be approved by the players. Fair enough. But unless the players’ association has a problem with the A’s relocation in general, it’s difficult to fathom that the union would erect major barriers to the A’s temporarily setting up shop in the same city they plan to make their permanent home.

This should be easy. When the Oakland Coliseum lease expires, the A’s should do what needs to be done to play in Las Vegas while their new stadium is under construction.