A's legend Dave Stewart says if his former team leaves Oakland, he's going to be devastated ... and now, he's hoping for a "last-minute miracle" that stops the squad from moving to Las Vegas.
TMZ Sports spoke with the former World Series MVP just hours after the A's announced they had agreed to buy land in Sin City, seemingly with the intention of eventually moving there ... and Stewart didn't even try to hide his disappointment with it all.
The ex-pitcher, who grew up in Oakland and went on to play eight years for the Athletics, said "it's just heartbreaking to see this happening."
Stewart told us he really feels most for the city itself ... because it already lost the Raiders to Vegas and the Warriors to San Francisco in the past few years.
He added, though, that he understood it might be a move A's ownership just has to make.
"Even though it's heartbreaking, sometimes you just have to make the decision that puts you in a position to be successful going forward," he said.
But, the 66-year-old -- who currently works as an A's analyst for NBC -- told us he's still holding out hope a move is not in the cards.
"We'll keep our fingers crossed," he said, "and we'll continue to say prayers that some type of last-minute miracle will keep the A's in Oakland."
For the team's part, president Dave Kaval sure sounded all-in on a move to Nevada when discussing the state of the A's with the Review-Journal this week.