Wow, a move has been rumored for years; it'd be interesting to see it happen. Note that it's Fremont, not Freemont, named after John C. Fremont, the explorer/governor/senator/presidential candidate.

Any idea what they'll be called? The Fremont A's? East Bay A's? California A's? Golden State A's?

Fremont is kind of interesting, merging five separate communities when it incorporated in 1956 and with lots of immigrants from Taiwan, India, and even Afghanistan. Population is more than 200,000; the smallest city with a ballpark would remain Miami Gardens, FL (~106,000 people).

Wow, im very suprised ive heard rumors and nothing more i must say this is a suprise if it goes through that is.

They'll be called the Oakland A's... Fremont is 25 miles from Oakland...

The Oakland A's of Fremont!
Or, the Philadelphia Kansas City Oakland A's of Fremont.

I wonder if Beane having more money is a good idea. He's gotten so used to taking advantage of a very limited budget, I wonder if a larger budget would present more problems than soloutions.

Yeah, I was really poor for a while, eating beans and rice most nights for dinner and washing it down with a King Cobra 40-oz malt liquor ($1.79 out the door, at the time).

Then I got a job, and although it initially seemed like a good thing, being able to afford an apartment and occasional night out has presented me with a lot more problems than I had before.

Oh wait, no, I like having money, and it has improved my quality of life. I suspect the Billy Beane would do ok, too. (don't mean to be too snarky, but I've heard that logic used before and still don't understand it)

i think the idea is that Beane does really well with drafting, development and trading, but that he hasn't shown a great knack for picking out good free agents. i'm not so sure any of that is true, but it think it's the notion behind the criticism.

Of course, Oakland itself is just a hop, skip, and a jump from San Francisco. It would be kinda weird keeping the name of the third-largest city in a metro area when the team relocates to the fourth-most populous city in a metro area, midway between the third-most and the most-populous (i.e., San Jose).

I'm not sure if I can think of an exact parallel... maybe like if the St. Paul Saints moved to Bloomington and kept St. Paul in their name. Those two cities are only 16 miles away. Or if the New Jersey Nets kept the "New Jersey" in their name when they move to Brooklyn.

You have to consider that the free agents Beane is dealing with are the leftovers. He has to choose between guys that are deemed faulty by other franchises, and figure out which of them are the most likely to succeed. If he had a large budget, this wouldn't be as much of a factor. Yes, the free agents he gets don't always work out, but Carl Pavano was a little bit of a bust, too. Having more money to spend doesn't mean that you become less adept at evaluating talent. It just means you don't have to be the only person that sees value.

I'm a Red Sox fan transplanted in San Francisco. I casually enjoy Oakland baseball, but I don't consider myself a Beane apologist. I just don't see how that argument makes any rational sense.