Again, the future of Tampa Bay’s rays is troubled. THURSDAY, The owner of the Rays, Stu Sternberg, announced that the team would not go ahead with plans to build a new stadium of $ 1.3 billion in Saint PetersburgCiting “a series of events from October that no one could have anticipated”. Among these events there was Hurricane Milton, which seriously damaged Tropicana’s land in October.
“After a meticulous deliberation, we have concluded that we cannot go ahead with the new stadium and development project at the moment. A series of events starting in October that no one could have predicted led to this difficult decision,” Sternberg said in a statement. “… Our commitment to the vitality and success of the RAYS organization is unshakable. We continue to focus on the search for a stage solution that serves the best interest in our region, the major baseball league and our organization.”
The shelves say that they “cannot move forward” with a new stadium: “our commitment … is unshakable”
Mike Axisa
Approval of the $ 1.3 billion stadium was granted last July. The new stadium was going to be built mainly on the other side of the Tropicana Field car park and was to open its doors in 2028. The design included a surrounding ball village with a commercial and residential space and a place of entertainment. The rays move away from all this.
After the Hurricane Milton, the Rays said they could not afford delays in construction, which led to political intestine struggles. The team faced a deadline of March 31 to show that it could find its $ 700 million obligation for the new stadium. Now, for all useful purposes, he is back to the drawing board. There is no new stadium in preparation.
The Rays will play their home matches in 2025 in Tampa proper to George Mr. Steinbrenner Field, at the New York Spring Training House. The president of the Yankees, Hal Steinbrenner, has already called this one year solution, and not a permanent arrangement. Sternberg said the plan was to repair the too time for 2026. What is happening in the long term is not clear.
With the warning which, at the moment, no one, not even MLB or Sternberg, knows what will happen in the long term, here are some possible results for the Rays now that the new stadium agreement of the franchise is no longer.
Will Sternberg be forced to sell?
If it is “forced” for sale is a question of semantics. The chances of Sternberg, which has owned the Rays since 2005, sells that the team has never been higher. Commissioner Rob Manfred and several owners push him to do so. Why do they push Sternberg for sale and not, for example, the owner of the athletics John Fisher? Due to the stadium disorder. The agreement of the new Sternberg stadium collapsed. Fisher’s Oakland in Sacramento in Las Vegas Plan always goes ahead, as doubtful as it may seem.
Baltimore Orioles were sold for $ 1.75 billion last year. The Kansas City Royals ($ 1 billion in 2020) and Miami Marlins ($ 1.3 billion in 2018), two small market teams like Rays, have also been sold for 10 -digit sums in recent years. Sternberg could ultimately be forced to sell the team, but it will be very good. The fact that Manfred and some owners were already trying to push Sternberg, and now the new stadium agreement has collapsed, makes an inevitable sale. Probably as soon as possible.
Will the shelves move?
Manfred insisted that he wanted to keep the rays in the Tampa region and want to keep Baseball in Florida in general, although we have more than three decades of evidence that showed us that it does not work. Rays are competitive most often and the marlins won two World Series titles early in their existence, but the two franchises ranked near the League which presents each year, and the Marlins have obtained a new stadium any longer (2012).
The Rays threatened the resettlement under Sternberg – who can forget the plan of two cities of cockamity with Montreal and Tampa? – And a new owner could come with the intention of moving the franchise elsewhere. The temple of renown Barry Larkin recently joined the Drees of OrlandoA group trying to attract an MLB franchise to Orlando. In addition to a potential deductible for expansion, the Dreamers also expressed their interest in bringing the shelves to Orlando.
Dreamers are only one of the many groups trying to bring the major baseball league to a new city. Others include the Portland Diamond Project,, Big League Utah (Salt Lake City), and Music City Baseball (Nashville). A return to Montreal was also considered possible. The point is, yes, the relocation is on the table for the shelves. Maybe more than ever. This will continue to be true until the shovels are in the ground in Saint Petersburg, Tampa or the surrounding area.
Could the shelves stay in St. Pete?
Of course, it is possible. After all, a stadium plan was in motion as recently at the beginning of October, before Hurricane Milton fell asleep. A new owner could enter and perhaps rekindle this $ 1.3 billion project, or offer a completely new stadium plan that keeps the team in St. Petersburg. Again, so much are unstable at the moment. There is no sense to exclude a long -term stay in St. Pete.
Really, however, a passage through the bay to Tampa would be the best if the MLB and Rays property (Sternberg or otherwise) insists on keeping the team in the region. A new stadium in Tampa would put the Rays closer to the population center and also facilitate Orlando titles. Of course, Sternberg and the Rays have tried to guarantee a stadium closer to Tampa for a decade now. If it was easy, it would have already happened.
“If in the coming months, a new owner, who demonstrates a commitment to honor his agreements and our community priorities, emerges, we will consider a partnership to keep baseball in St. Pete”, ” The mayor of Saint Petersburg, Ken Welch, told Tampa Bay Times. “But we will not suspend the progress of our city while waiting for a collaborative and community baseball partner.”
Could Rays stay in too long?
It seems very unlikely. The team lease in Tropicana Field takes place until 2027 and the plan is to return in 2026, after repairing the roof and other parts of the stadium which were damaged by Hurricane Milton. In the long term, however, the shelves need a new stadium. The too much opened its doors in 1990, which makes it the seventh oldest stadium in MLB, and although the team has done what it can to animate the place under Sternberg, it is an installation of MLB of low. The shelves need a new stadium. No one disputes this.
Now that the new stadium agreement has dropped, it is possible that the Rays are looking at a short -term lease extension to Tropicana Field just to give the team a house while they are sorting their future. The new stadium will not occur and it will be impossible to plan a new stadium, obtain the necessary approvals and have it built in time for 2028. Play in 2025 in GMS Field and the 2026-27 seasons too much could be the best possible result at the moment. A short-term extension to cover, let’s say, 2028-30 could then be an option. However, a long -term stay in Tropicana Field cannot occur. The shelves really need a new house.
What about a minor league stop?
The John Fisher plan, fundamentally. Last season was the last year on the lease of athletics at the Oakland Coliseum and, rather than staying there on a short -term extension until their stadium in Las Vegas provisionally opens in 2028, the team will play at least the next three years at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento. It is a triple-a stadium that they share them with the Cats of Sacramento River, triple-a affiliate of the Giants of San Francisco. It is not ideal, but that’s what Fisher found.
The previous one has been set up. A team of major leagues will play at least three seasons in a triple-a stadium while waiting for its new stadium to be built. The rays play in the GMS field because of an act of God. A hurricane has seriously damaged the too much. A voluntarily play them in a triple-a stadium as a stop between Oakland and Las Vegas. Rays could explore an arrangement similar to the future, and who knows where it will land the team?
Is contraction possible?
Technically yes, in reality no. The MLB prompted to contract the twins of Minnesota and the Montreal exhibitions for economic reasons in 2001, but these plans collapsed when an injunction of the court forced the twins to honor their lease with the metrodom. The Twins finally opened a new stadium, Target Field, in 2010. The exhibitions moved to Washington and became the Nationals in 2004. They played home matches at the RFK Stadium from 2004 to 2007 before the opening of the Nationals Park in 2008.
MLB income is at a record level And the association of MLB players would consider contraction as an act of war. This would mean the elimination of 26 MLB jobs, 40 list places of 40 men and 165 contractual places in a minor league. And remember, you can’t just contract a team, right? The nature of each day of the sport requires a uniform number of teams, therefore contracting rays would also mean contracting another team, and twice as much players have lost. It will not happen.
In the short term, the most likely result is that Sternberg sells the shelves and the new owner floats relocating. Perhaps seriously, perhaps only to create a lever effect to obtain a new stadium in Saint Petersburg, Tampa or the surrounding area. The way the rays go from here to a new stadium is still a big unknown, and how long it will take or where it will be located is the assumption of anyone.
