Court filing does not close door on San Jose for A's

Reports of the demise of San Jose as a possible destination for the Oakland Athletics have been greatly exaggerated.

A report surfaced late last week that Major League Baseball's lawyers said in a court filing in June that the team's request to relocate the franchise was turned down by Commissioner Bud Selig.

However, a closer reading of the document made it clear that Selig was not ruling out a move at some point in the future, but was simply responding to a specific issue on a specific date. "Selig formally notified the Athletics ownership that he was not satisfied with the club's relocation proposal." There is nothing in that statement keeping the team from submitting a revised proposal in the future.

That can't happen until the resolution of the current lawsuit filed by the City of San Jose, in which MLB has been accused of trying to prevent the Athletics from moving. The San Francisco Giants claim that the area falls into their territorial rights.

Athletics owner Lew Wolff told The Associated Press in an email that he does not comment on legal proceedings, adding: "I continue to follow the process that MLB has set forth."

Major League Baseball declined to comment.

U.S. District Judge Ronald Whyte ruled in favor of MLB in October, upholding the sport's antitrust exemption. He did, however, allow the city to continue to pursue financial compensation.