Adithya Sambamurthy, for The Bay Citizen

Jorge Leon cheers on the Oakland Athletics in their game against the LA Angels of Anaheim on Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Desperate to build a new stadium for the A’s in San Jose, the city has resorted to playing a game of three-card monte or what will from now on be called the “ol' San Jose switcheroo.” As the Merc reports, team co-owner Lew Wolff is interested in buying some property from the city, so that the city can then turn around and buy the land it needs for Wolff’s new stadium. Are you confused yet?

The city’s redevelopment agency doesn’t have the money to buy the land for the stadium, so selling other parcels to Wolff would get them the money they need. City officials told the Merc that they didn’t see anything wrong with the arrangement if Wolff is the top bidder for the property.

But critics of the new stadium were of the opinion that the deal is fishy, the Merc reported:

"Marc Morris, a spokesman for the anti-stadium group Better Sense San Jose, calls the prospect 'just too cozy and convenient. He gives the money to the RDA, who buys the land and gives the land back to him. It doesn't pass the smell test.'"

Of course, this all may be moot if Gov. Jerry Brown destroys redevelopment agencies as we know them before the deal goes down.

For additional coverage of the strange land deals in San Jose, check out the White Elephant Parade, the blog that broke the story.