A’s big fear: They’re not the only ones who want to...

The A’s went public with their offer to buy the Coliseum complex after getting word that Oakland officials were in talks with other developers who have their eye on the site.

That raised a worst-case scenario for the team: Its fallback spot for a new ballpark could end up in the hands of someone who thinks they can find better uses for the 130-acre parcel than a baseball stadium.

“The future of the A’s is too important to further risk alternate uses of the Coliseum site,” A’s President Dave Kaval wrote in his letter to city officials offering to buy the stadium, Oracle Arena and parking lot in exchange for taking on $135 million-plus in debt for the two buildings.

“We need to control our destiny in Oakland,” Kaval said when asked what prompted the letter.

The A’s concern is that if they can’t find another spot to play ball, they will once again find themselves tenants at the Coliseum — with no control over adjacent land to build a hotel, restaurants and other commercial buildings needed to pay for their ballpark.

Going public with their offer also sent a clear message to Oakland officials — and to the world at large — that the team is serious about the Coliseum if other sites don’t work out. There are serious issues with one alternative, Howard Terminal northwest of Jack London Square. The team’s preferred spot, near Laney College, is all but off the board.

“It’s obviously a huge step to commit these types of dollars,” Kaval said of the team’s offer.

City Council President Larry Reid said that while it was in “the best interest of Oakland to keep our A’s in Oakland,” the city needs to look at all its options. Those could include a tech center or other business development whose backers might love to put thousands of well-paying jobs at a site with great access to the freeway, BART and Oakland International Airport.

“It’s prime real estate,” Reid said. “You can do something special” for the entire city.

Rumors have everyone from Tesla to an equity group that has experience with Oakland real estate deals approaching the city about the site. Reid wouldn’t say, but we do know that Coliseum officials have met with Bay Area real estate investor Mark Hall, who is looking for a place to build a 15,000-seat stadium to house the United Soccer League expansion franchise that he acquired the rights to last year.

Whoever the city ends up dealing with, look for Oakland to hold out for more money than what the A’s initially are dangling.

“My understanding is that the last assessment we did ... was $200 million — so $135 million is a good opening offer,” said Chris Dobbins, a member of the city- and Alameda County-run Coliseum Authority board.

One unknown is where the county Board of Supervisors stands. Oakland has floated the possibility of buying out the county’s share in the Coliseum complex, but for now they’re joined at the hip — and the wallet.

Supervisor Scott Haggerty, noting the impending departure of the Raiders and Warriors, said, “As far as I’m concerned, the A’s should get top preference.”

The A’s think so, too. On Wednesday, we’ll get an idea of whether Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf — who put out an upbeat but noncommittal statement about the team’s offer — feels the same way when she sits down with Kaval and A’s owner John Fisher.

Foul ball: State Treasurer and gubernatorial candidate John Chiang is in serious danger of not getting Clayton Kershaw’s vote.

The Los Angeles Dodgers’ pitching ace, who will take the mound Thursday for the season opener against the Giants, pops up in a new Internet ad in which Chiang says a workplace retirement savings program he came up with has helped “retire more people than Clayton Kershaw’s curveball.”

The spot is a spoof of a beer maker’s “most interesting man in the world” campaign, casting the charisma-challenged Chiang as “the most accomplished man in California.”

Kershaw didn’t get the joke.

“Clayton does not endorse this candidate, nor did he give his approval,” said Kershaw’s agent, D.J. Smart. “The Dodgers are actively working to have this removed.”

Chiang campaign spokesman Fabien Levy said the ad doesn’t suggest that Kershaw endorses the candidate, and that it’s all legal under “fair use” laws because the photo of Kershaw in the ad comes from a Los Angeles Times article. So the ad will stay up.

Anyway, he says, the spot is really intended to highlight the 7.5 million Californians who stand to benefit from the retirement program at no cost to the state — and “those are impressive stats no matter what field you’re in.”