Amid A’s hype, Sacramento still has to keep another baseball team happy

SACRAMENTO — In their own ballpark, the Sacramento River Cats are second-class citizens.

The River Cats, the Giants’ top farm team since 2015, suddenly are at the mercy of the vagabond A’s, who closed shop in Oakland after 57 years and moved 85.7 miles up I-80 to the state capital for the 2025 season.

All the talk about Sacramento within the baseball industry, including from the commissioner’s office and players’ union, is A’s, A’s, A’s.

What about the River Cats?

For the Giants, it’ll be challenging to have their most advanced minor-leaguers share the field at Sutter Health Park with another team that has taken control of the premises.

The field looked gorgeous Sunday night when a festive, sold-out crowd of 14,014 watched the Giants fall to the River Cats 4-3, the first baseball to be played there since Major League Baseball (with the players union looking on) revamped the facility. But how will it look in the summer months with constant use coupled with scorching hot temperatures far north of 100 degrees?

“It’s natural to wonder about the playing surface just incurring logistical issues, and it’s not to speak negatively about the situation or the A’s,” Giants general manager Zack Minasian said. “I’ve gone into it telling myself it’s going to be difficult for this to be a perfect situation, especially Year 1.’ ”

In the past, when the River Cats went on the road a week at a time, the grounds crew could easily maintain, fertilize, irrigate, and keep up the field. Now, with the A’s and River Cats playing virtually every day in Sacramento, 157 games in all, maintenance becomes an obstacle.

“Obviously, there’s going to be some issues,” Minasian said. “You try to make the most of it. The biggest thing is we want our players to get their work in, and we’ll do our best to make sure we do that. I would imagine the Sacramento affiliate wants to do this extremely well if it means having a team there down the road.”

After touring the facility Sunday, Minasian came away impressed, saying, “People who work here day in and day out are up for the challenge.”

The A’s, after a season-opening series in Seattle, make their Sacramento debut on March 31, hosting the Cubs. But first, the River Cats will have a three-day dry run when they open their own season with home games March 28-30.

Triple-A generally is the last stop for minor-leaguers before reaching the majors, also a place for big-leaguers to rehab injuries, and the Giants’ front office will closely monitor how River Cats owner Vivek Ranadivé and his people handle operations of the stadium.

Ranadivé, who’s also owner of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings, is doing all he can to cater to his good friend, A’s owner John Fisher, and MLB while hoping one day this favor will get him an expansion team in Sacramento — or even the A’s, if their plan to settle in Las Vegas somehow falls apart.

Sunday, a new video board was unveiled beyond the wall in right-center, which could be seen by fans seated foul pole to foul pole, not so much by fans sitting on the grass berm beyond right field — which seemed OK for them. It was a party atmosphere, nonetheless, with orange and black the primary colors.

No A’s signage or retired numbers were on display, but an A’s spokesperson said they’ll be visible for the A’s home opener. No green and gold merchandise in the stadium shops either. Just Giants gear. That’ll change when the A’s show up.

The clubhouses are situated beyond the left-field wall. The Giants suited up in the River Cats’ dressing room, which is tiny, maybe 50 feet by 20 feet of floor space. Officials familiar with the layout said the adjoining dressing room that visiting MLB teams will occupy is also tiny, which could be an issue for Aaron Judge, Bryce Harper, Juan Soto, Mike Trout, and other stars.

“We feel really good about the renovations we already made and getting this season up to speed,” said John Rinehart, president of business operations for the River Cats and Kings. “But we’re going to see how they all play out, what the fan and player amenities look like, and figure out what else we need to do. We’re constantly going to be improving this ballpark.”

By the way, Rinehart pooh-poohed talk that Fisher and the A’s are using Sutter Health Park rent-free. But if Fisher is paying rent, it’s in a roundabout way — Rinehart said no rent has been received yet from the A’s because they haven’t yet played a home game.

“It’s definitely not a rent-free deal,” Rinehart said. “We’re sharing revenue and expenses for A’s games. .. If it was rent-free, they wouldn’t be giving us any of their revenue. The rent is in the form of the revenue-sharing, basically.”

As for the press box, little has changed in the main booth from years past: still just six seats for baseball writers, but the A’s spokesperson assured us that media members, including large traveling parties that cover major-market teams, will be accommodated in nearby booths.

Until further notice, the Giants anticipate it’ll be business as usual with their Triple-A team and that the well-used field wouldn’t be a safety concern for their top prospects in Sacramento.

“It’s going to be a struggle if there are games every day,” said Giants vice president of player development Randy Winn. “But I don’t think it’s going to affect who we send where. I have confidence that the grounds crew is going to do their job, and more importantly, MLB is going to hold the grounds crew accountable.”

As it happens, the A’s won’t be the only big-league team housed at a minor-league park this season. The Rays must play at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa because their own facility, Tropicana Field, was destroyed by Hurricane Milton.

It’s a terrible look for MLB, but at least the Rays aren’t co-tenants with a Triple-A team. Steinbrenner Field is home of the Yankees’ Low A affiliate, which plays far fewer games than other levels in the minors. It’s a far greater concern for the Giants.

“I trust the field, if it’s not [up to standards], every team that plays there will be complaining to MLB, and they don’t want that,” Winn said. “They don’t want to get calls saying Sacramento is bad or Tampa is bad. They are going to hold the stadium officials and operations and grounds crew accountable. I don’t feel that’s going to be an issue. But I just think it’s going to be hard work keeping the field up.”

Giants second baseman Tyler Fitzgerald, who played 119 games for the River Cats the past two seasons, recalls the field worsening as the summer ensued. He said it didn’t help when the Savannah Bananas played several days on the surface and tore it up.

“They’re going to have some serious usage on that field,” Fitzgerald said. “They need to take care of it so they’re not chopping it up in batting practice. That’s a huge part of it. You go out there and take 50 grounders every single day, it’s going to start to show on that grass. The second half of last year, the grass wasn’t even green anymore. They had to come in and put new grass in. Those summer days, man, the grass started to change to yellow pretty fast.”

Chris Shastid, head groundskeeper for both the A’s and River Cats, said the new grass is a Bermuda base called Tahoma 31, which is supposed to be more sustainable in the heat versus the cool-season grass used in recent years.

Shastid said his crew includes a handful of full-timers and 30 part-timers, though not all appear for every game. Clay Wood, the A’s longtime respected head groundskeeper at the Coliseum, didn’t follow the team to Sacramento.

The A’s say they are using cutting-edge technology to “optimize root zone oxygenation, improve moisture management, and regulate subsurface temperatures.” In addition, “the integration of drone monitoring, infrared scanning, and infield moisture sensors will provide real-time data on turf health, moisture levels, and nutrient distribution.”

Mother Nature was not available for comment.

“I guess we have to see how it plays out as much as anything,” president of baseball operations Buster Posey said. “There will be a lot of moving parts, but we’ll make the best of it with what we’ve got, and we’ve got the people in place to do that.”

Sunday’s exhibition seemed to go off without a hitch. Jung Hoo Lee, in his first appearance since March 13, drilled a run-scoring double in his first at-bat and went 1-for-2 with a walk. Lee, who downplayed his back issue — “I don’t even want to use the word ‘injury’ because it’s so mild” — said he has felt better since receiving an injection and appears on track to play Opening Day.

Landen Roupp (five innings, one run, one hit, eight strikeouts) made a strong case to secure the fifth rotation spot over Hayden Birdsong, who was dominant in Arizona but on Sunday retired just one batter in the sixth inning and coughed up three runs on three hits.

The Giants optioned pitcher Sean Hjelle, further clarifying the bullpen makeup, and manager Bob Melvin said Sam Huff will be the backup catcher behind Patrick Bailey. Max Stassi had been in the mix. The latest on designated hitter Jerar Encarnacion, who’ll be placed on the injured list, is that he’ll undergo surgery Monday for his fractured left hand.

The Giants play two more exhibitions on Monday and Tuesday, both against the Tigers at Oracle Park, and open the season Thursday in Cincinnati. They’ll be back in Sacramento during Fourth of July weekend to play the A’s, and the color of the grass at that point will be a good indicator of how well this master plan is working.