A combination of Athletics and San Francisco Giants players have experience playing at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento.
While acknowledging the strange, painful circumstances that will leave the Oakland Coliseum without an MLB team, members of both franchises know baseball will be played in California’s capital city.
However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot of uncertainty about the state of Sutter Health Park and its ability to host a major league team.
“They definitely need a lot of upgrades to the clubhouse and the cages and all that stuff,” second baseman Zach Geloff told CBS Sacramento’s Jake Gadon on Friday. “I would say it was below Triple-A average [ballpark]and I’m sure they’ll take care of it, I guess, by next year.”
Geloff, when he visited as a member of the A’s Triple-A team, the Las Vegas Aviators, was unimpressed with Sutter Health Park.
His concerns are illustrated by the design of the stadium. Sutter Health Park offers smaller sizes and seats only 14,000 compared to the Coiseum’s capacity of 63,000.
While Oakland’s historic venue may have its caveats, it meets MLB ballpark standards.
Geloff’s scoring was supported across the bay by Giants infielders Tyler Fitzgerald and Patrick Bailey, who both know what it’s like to call Sutter Health Park home as they played for the RiverCats, San Francisco’s Triple-A affiliate located at Sacramento Stadium.
“We had one last year [batting] home and away cage and I think they have two cages this year,” Fitzgerald told Joseph Dykus of The Mercury News in an exclusive interview Friday. “With a big league club coming in, visiting teams will need their own.”
“The renovations they did made it much more presentable,” Bailey added. “You know, I don’t think any situation like this is ideal, but you know, I hope they make the best of it.”
Only Giants players can anticipate the Sacramento baseball experience so much, as only time will tell how the A’s and MLB settle in at Sutter Health Park.
But Oakland shortstop Brent Rucker, the lone AL All-Star competitor in the 2023 MLB season, is trusting the MLBPA to handle turning Sutter Health Park into a stadium fit for the show.
“No, I don’t think so,” Rooker told Gadon when asked about the problems with the game in Sacramento. “We trust ours [Players Association] to make sure the right settings and amenities are in place to make sure it’s going to be a major league stadium by the time we get there.”
While the A’s new ballpark could potentially be adjusted to meet MLB standards, the weather in Sacramento is out of control.
However, Giants pitcher Tristan Beck, who had stints with the River Cats in 2022 and 2023, believes the park is worthy of MLB competition and concerns about the weather in the Sacramento Central Valley are not great.
“I loved my time in Sacramento and I know historically it has an amazing fan base,” Beck explained to Dycus. “Sutter Park is an amazing course and I heard the renovations they did this year are amazing. So it should be interesting.
“I never had a problem with the heat last year in Sacramento. I felt like other places we went to like Texas were a lot hotter.”
The A’s will play at Sutter Health Park during the 2025, 2026 and 2027 MLB seasons.
Although the relocation process has had many twists and turns, Sacramento appears to be a true destination for the A’s — temporarily. However, Sutter Health Park’s offerings for players and fans will be closely monitored as next season approaches.
Regardless, the Coliseum will be missed by baseball fans everywhere as third baseman AJD Davis.
“Being a Northern California kid growing up seeing the A’s, seeing the Giants,” Davis recalled with Gadon. “To go see them and play in the Coliseum in high school, that’s going to be a bummer for baseball, especially seeing the retired numbers there. . .
“I’m kind of mixed as a baseball fan. Because the Oakland Coliseum is a very historic place … a little history aside.”
