Back to Work

Forgive our absence the past 10 days. We did some website housecleaning, and got some rest, but now we're ready for 2011. Is this the year the A's owners finally do the smart thing and permanently make Oakland their home? Then again, we've been asking that question since 1995, the year that Steve Schott and Ken Hofmann took over A's ownership and started this 16-year reign of uncertainty that Lew Wolff and John Fisher, unfortunately, have continued.

After the New Year, a lot's been going on:

Redevelop This: Gov. Jerry Brown is trying to close the state's massive budget gap by shutting down cities' redevelopment agencies, which could be bad news for cities. It might also be terrible for Lew Wolff because he's been saying publicly since 1998 that using a city's redevelopment funds is his preferred way to move the A's to San Jose. City leaders statewide have loudly complained, but like a lot of things about the A's in the Wolff era, no one has the foggiest idea how it will all turn out.

Reason No. 12,368 Why We Love Oakland: It's apparently the only city where the Giants have not taken their World Series trophy this winter. They took it to San Jose and Sacramento, and next week, even New York City.

He Loves L.A. ... or Not: ESPN baseball writer Buster Olney floated the proposal that Wolff, a Los Angeles-based developer would buy the L.A. Dodgers and take them off Frank McCourt's troubled hands. Wolff publicly denied the rumor. So, was Olney -- a respected reporter not prone to printing wild hearsay and rumors -- way off base? Or was that idea fed to Olney by an MLB insider trying to give Wolff a way to gracefully leave the A's while still saving face? We'll see. (Seeing a trend here?)

Quan Believes in the Oakland A's: Newly elected Oakland Mayor Jean Quan opened City Hall to the people on her Jan. 3 inauguration day, where visitors could see a huge Oakland A's banner hanging in her mayoral conference room. Keeping the A's in Oakland is one of her top priorities, folks. Hopefully, soon we'll have an owner who feels the same way.

What Hasn't Been Going On: Still no ruling from Commissioner Bud Selig based on a report from the three-person committee that Selig put together almost two years ago to study the A's ballpark situation.

There are a lot of questions there. Here's to 2011 being the year they get answered.