© Darren Yamashita | 2019 Jun 21
The public relations hits just keep coming for the Oakland A’s.
Last month, team president Dave Kaval made a public announcement that the organization has begun exploring relocation options in the midst of the city’s pending decision on their proposal for a new stadium at Howard Terminal. The announcement was seen by many as a threat to put pressure on the city to approve the deal, one that would include a reported (though disputed by Kaval) $2.2 billion in public financing.
If that wasn’t enough to rub some fans the wrong way, Kaval sent a tweet from a hockey game in Las Vegas, a city that is considered the leading suitor to land the club should they decide to leave town. Then Kaval decided to go against the local media, sending a series of tweets this weekend claiming the San Francisco media has not been fair in its reporting of the stadium project.
Which brings us to Tuesday and the most embarrassing chapter yet in this PR nightmare. A tweet sent out by “Advocates for Minor Leaguers” showed two pictures of the saddest possible versions of a sandwich and what looks to be a burrito, which it claims were being served to A’s minor leaguers.
Players in the Oakland A’s organization shared these photos of their recent post-game meals.
No employer would serve these meals to employees they care about. Why are the A’s serving them to their future Major Leaguers? pic.twitter.com/cIFqiPg6iX
— Advocates for Minor Leaguers (@MiLBAdvocates) June 1, 2021
The pictures are so absurd it was hard to believe an MLB organization was actually serving this to its players. That was until Kaval confirmed the photo was real, and said that the organization fired the third party vendor when it found out about the incident a few weeks ago.
This was totally unacceptable. When we found out several weeks ago we terminated the third party vendor. We apologize to our players, staff, and coaches. We will redouble our efforts to provide the best options for our team at every level. https://t.co/yPzVWiCx1D
— Dave Kaval (@DaveKaval) June 2, 2021
The photo certainly doesn’t help the A’s (deserved) reputation as the cheapest organization in Major League Baseball, and one of the cheapest in American professional sports.