WEST SACRAMENTO – Max Schuemann had spent over four seasons in the minor leagues and was in Triple-A Las Vegas last April when the Athletics announced that the 2024 season would be their last in Oakland.
That lit a fire under Schuemann to make it to the big leagues and play in the Coliseum, a goal he realized less than two weeks after the announcement. In his MLB debut on April 12, 2024, Schuemann, as a pinch runner, scored the winning run for the A’s in a 2-1, 10-inning victory over the Washington Nationals.
“It was one of my goals while I was in the minors, once the news came out that we were moving on from Oakland, was to get to Oakland and experience that,” Schuemann said, “and just be a part of the Oakland Coliseum, leave my little mark on that history.”
The aging Coliseum could hardly be considered one of baseball’s cathedrals, especially when compared to Oracle Park across the bay. However, it still provided countless MLB memories and hosted several Hall of Famers over its 57-year span.
While any A’s prospect who works tirelessly in the minors would be ecstatic about getting a call to the bigs in 2025, their home debut wouldn’t come in a 50,000-seat stadium but at a Triple-A park with a capacity of 14,014 that they’ve likely already played in several times.
And if those players remain in MLB with the A’s for the next two seasons, they will not have the opportunity to call a true big-league park home. The franchise will remain at Sutter Health Park at least through 2027 before its planned move to Las Vegas in 2028.
Considering, in one analyst’s estimation, that the average MLB career is lasting slightly less than three years for position players and 2.7 years for pitchers, some A’s might not ever get to call an actual big-league park home.
“I mean, I’m not going to tell you that it feels the same, but we’re tasked with playing a Major League Baseball team,” A’s closer Mason Miller said Friday inside the team’s slightly cramped home clubhouse before beating the Giants 11-2. “So when the Yankees come here, Aaron Judge is playing on this field. Tonight, we’re going to play against the Giants. (Rafael) Devers, (Matt) Chapman, all these guys that are well respected, well regarded big leaguers are playing on this field as well.
“I think when you zoom out and think about the guys that are going to be here for three years, and that could very well be 33% of their big-league career, I think guys might look back on that post-career and be a little disappointed by it. But right now, it’s hard not to be grateful for every single day in the big leagues, regardless of where you’re playing.”
Roughly nine months removed from their final game at the Coliseum, the A’s first year in West Sacramento has been a challenge. Despite Friday’s lopsided win, the A’s have the American League’s worst home record at 16-27. Most crowds at the Triple-A ballpark have often been short of sellouts, and complaints about the facility have been aired for all to hear.
The Phillies played in West Sacramento in May, and pitcher Zack Wheeler had issues with what he felt was an abnormally hard mound. When the Twins traveled to play the A’s in early June, Carlos Correa complained about the batter’s box, and pitcher Joe Ryan felt the mound played a role in Pablo López’s shoulder injury, which could keep him out for a few more weeks.
A’s left-hander Sean Newcomb said after some modifications, the park’s mound was a lot softer on the last homestand in mid-June than it was in late May when he was acquired from Boston. Their feedback has been heard.
But pitcher Luis Severino, the A’s starter for Saturday’s game against the Giants, recently had his own well-publicized issues with Sutter Health Park, from the location of the clubhouses beyond the left field wall that have interrupted his usual in-game routine to the overall lack of energy at the facility.
Severino signed the richest deal in team history — $67 million over three years – in December. But he’s been brutal at home, going 0-7 with a 6.79 ERA in 10 starts. In eight starts on the road, Severino is 2-2 with a 3.04 ERA.
“It’s not the same. It’s not the same atmosphere,” Severino told The Athletic last week in New York. “We don’t have a lot of fans. Our clubhouse is in left field. So, when we play day games, we have to just be in the sun. There’s no air conditioning there, too. It’s really tough.”
“It’s been an adjustment, for sure,” Miller said of the A’s home field. “But we’re showing up and playing 81 games here this year. So, it’s kind of on you to make that adjustment as quickly as possible.”
The A’s are not the only MLB team temporarily playing in a minor league facility, as the Tampa Bay Rays are calling Steinbrenner Field home for the 2025 season.
But the Rays are only slated to play at the Yankees’ spring training home for one year before the roof at Tropicana Field, which was severely damaged by Hurricane Milton last October, is repaired this upcoming offseason.
The A’s could potentially remain at Sutter Health Park through 2028 if construction on their planned park in Las Vegas faces any significant delays, as questions swirl about the stadium’s financing should it face considerable cost overruns.
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If there are setbacks, four years seems like a long time for a big league player to call a minor league park home.
“Being a veteran and watching some guys make their debuts, maybe you have that thought process,” Newcomb said of not playing in a big home park. “But I’d say if you’re in their shoes, it’s probably not really making too much of a difference. You still get to go on the road and see some big ballparks.
“So it helps for anybody, even myself, just going to see the nice ballparks in Toronto, Texas. The domes and the bigger, grander ones stand out to me, but any of the ballparks are cool to go to on the road. But for a guy coming up and maybe making his debut here, looking back on it — it is a part of baseball history, too. It’s just kind of one of those weird things we just kind of have to live with it.”