The A’s have been using their longtime clubhouse and the Raiders’ old locker room during training camp to facilitate social distancing while working during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Raiders officially moved to Las Vegas this year, leaving a large and spacious locker room designed for 60-plus players unoccupied.
It looks like the A’s are going to move right in.
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A’s equipment manager Steve Vucinich gave his Twitter followers a view of the new space, saying all the silver and black paint you see will be covered with green and gold by the team’s second homestand.
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There’s a coach’s room, a training room and a large shower space in there, which will be far more comfortable as the A’s continue to follow health and safety protocols mandated by Major League Baseball during a season played amid a public health crisis. It’s also right next to the team’s batting cage and just an extra flight of stairs away from their home dugout.
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It doesn’t have a dining area -- players couldn’t use it now, anyway, while distancing -- nor the comforts of a baseball clubhouse in its current form. Those amenities could easily be added in the future when card games and the like are allowed again.
"They've been keeping that from us for too long," third baseman Matt Chapman quipped Thursday on ESPN's broadcast of Giants-Dodgers. "It is massive. We love that place. Going from our other locker room to the Raiders locker room feels like, I mean, I feel like I'm living like a king."
If you look at Vucinich's video closely, it also appears the A’s and MLB put Black Lives Matter shirts at each locker for use during warmups if a player so chooses.
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The A’s have made several adjustments to the Oakland Coliseum space to accommodate baseball in this unique time. They have moved their weight room outdoors, under a tent in Lot F. There’s also an area used for COVID-19 tests in that same space.
Oakland opens the regular season on Friday night against the Los Angeles Angels.