Sell, Lew, Sell

Now that the A's stadium situation officially will NOT be on the agenda at the MLB owners meeting on May 16-17, we have to ask: How long is Lew Wolff going to continue this sorry game?

 We keep hearing that the A's will make progress on a South Bay ballpark "next month" ... only problem is that "next month" always arrives without any A's progress on a new stadium. A few weeks ago, just hours after someone close to the A's whispered in Susan Slusser's ear that the A's would be on the owners meeting agenda, an MLB official slapped down the A's front office, saying the opposite. A few days later, Selig told the press that there is no timetable for an A's stadium.

 After years of total inertia on the ballpark front, almost everyone seems to know the A's will never fulfill Wolff's pipe dream. Wolff seems to be the only person in the world to think otherwise.

 The question no longer isn't, "When will Selig act?" Three years and two months of silence has answered that question. The answer is, never. So, the key question has become: How long will Wolff keep holding the A's franchise hostage for a ship that will never come in?

 We'll ask one more question: It's been more than nine years since Wolff was named V.P. of Venue Development for the A's, and what venues has he actually developed?

 In another life, Wolff could give up on San Jose and start to work with Oakland. Unfortunately for Lew, he is loathed by A's fans and the Bay Area media, and he has no one to blame but himself for the wholly unnecessary scorched-earth strategy he used in his failed bid to force a move out of town.

 That leaves but one solution for Wolff: Sell. Sell the A's, please.

 A's fans, the city of Oakland and the integrity of baseball all deserve better than what your ownership tenure has given them. Sell, Lew, sell. For the benefit of all involved, pocket your big profits and sell the team. Everyone, including yourself, will be better off for it.

 The only alternative is to wait for a "next month" that will never come at all.