News on the wire has it that the ex-Vancouver-based minor league baseball franchise, the Sacramento Rivercats, have signed a four year AAA-extension deal with the Oakland Athletics.

This is big news in that the A’s traditionally only sign two-year deals with minor league teams, and begs the question, will the short-season Vancouver Canadians be offered a similar deal in the off-season?

That the Rivercats would be offered an extension was never in doubt, being as they’re one of the best run minor league teams in the game (as opposed to when they were in Vancouver, and had a rep for being one of the worst run). They get big crowds, they win titles and division pennants left and right (two PCL Championships and five division titles since they left town in 1999), they have the winningest record in the PCL over the past seven years (560-448), and they’re pretty darn close, at least in geographical terms, to Oakland.

So will the new owners of the Vancouver Canadians get a similar deal? I’d put that at 50-50.

There’s little doubt that Oakland likes the idea of new ownership in Vancouver, and they certainly love the prospect of millions of dollars being spent on facility upgrades. And they’ll no doubt be happy to hear of the plans to move the Nat Bailey outfield walls in, and secure a 25-year lease on the facility.

But, even with all that promised, new minor league baseball team owners have a tendency to announce grand plans before getting hung up with delays, budget cutbacks, and the tedium of day-to-day operations. Many a massive renovation has turned to a small addition, or a lick of paint, once the realities of the financial world set in.

Admittedly, everything I’ve seen and heard from Jake Kerr, the new man at the helm of the C’s, indicates he has the cash and the drive to make good on his word, but will that be enough for Oakland to make a long term commitment?

Should be an interesting off-season, to say the least…