It has an extra syllable that makes it hard to chant anything cool, but West Sacramento doesn’t care. The city of only 55,000 people will be home to the Oakland Athletics for three years as the team leaves Oakland on a road trip bound for Las Vegas.

Of course, those benefitting from the move are already pushing to make the impossible happen: an expansion Major League Team in West Sacramento, which is to say, Sacramento. The capital city is part of a 2.2 million person region. That region was part of the 2013 sales pitch to the National Basketball Association when the Sacramento Kings’ boneheaded ownership group, the Maloof brothers, tried moving the team to Seattle. The person who would lead the group buying out the Maloofs is now also the owner of the baseball team that will have to share a calendar with the A’s.

Just like he sold the NBA on his ownership abilities, he is now beginning the long-shot effort to sell Major League Baseball. “You’re going to see world-class baseball in the most intimate stadium in Major League Baseball,” Sacramento Rivercats team owner Vivek Ranadivé said at a news conference on Thursday. He was referring to Sutter Health Park, which is home to the San Francisco Giants AAA franchise.

It would not seem to be big enough to host a Major League team for any length of time. The capacity of 15,000-16,000 includes standing-room-only-seats and an outifeld lawn. But, considering the A’s are only drawing 6,500 fans now, and the greater Sacramento region supported the minor league team faithfully until the A’s swapped AAA teams, with the San Francisco Giants a few years ago (the Giants’ minor league system stinks and so has the team), it’s not a bad move for Athletics ownership.

With the 5,000 Rivercats fans who were already going to be attending, and a decent mix of Kings fans, corporate sales, and A’s fans who will jump at the chance to not have to drive the 85 miles to Oakland, then the team should draw better than they are now. But, will they sell out every night? That’s what civic leaders are promising. “If we can prove that there’s a market here (and) we can make the team successful, I think we’re in full position to get the new franchise,” Ranadivé said.

The Kings currently draw a little less than 18,000 per game. That’s quite a ways from 35,000 a Sacramento team would need to be respectable. A decade ago, Sacramento nearly lost an NBA franchise. Kevin Johnson led the way to save the team. The Kings are now finally a decent team, but Ranadivé does not have the personality to make a Sacramento MLB franchise a reality. We’ll see if baseball fans step up without him.