MLB wants Rays to play home games in Tampa Bay area even if Tropicana Field isn't repaired in time

The Tampa Bay Rays’ location tract for the 2025 play remains uncertain aft Hurricane Milton devastated Tropicana Field successful St. Petersburg, Florida. 

Major League Baseball hopes the franchise tin find a mode to support the team’s impermanent location adjacent its instrumentality basal if harm astatine "The Trop" cannot beryllium repaired successful time, Commissioner Rob Manfred said connected "The Varsity" podcast Sunday. 

"We’re hopeful that we tin fig retired thing successful [the Tampa Bay area] for them and that the repairs tin beryllium done successful a mode that allows them to resume playing," Manfred explained connected the podcast. "The easiest happening is ever to enactment successful the marketplace wherever the clubs are anchored if we tin negociate it."

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Tropicana Field earlier a crippled betwixt the Oakland Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays. (Nathan Ray Seebeck/USA Today Sports)

The suggested alternate location fields for the Rays person been outpouring grooming sites of the Philadelphia Phillies, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates and Detroit Tigers, which are each wrong a tenable region from Tropicana Field. The Rays’ outpouring grooming analyzable successful Port Charlotte is further distant than those sites. 

Another enactment is Disney’s monolithic ESPN Wide World of Sports analyzable adjacent Orlando. 

RAYS REACT TO HURRICANE MILTON DECIMATING THEIR HOME TROPICANA FIELD ROOF

The occupation with the outpouring grooming sites is they big insignificant league teams aft the MLB clubs caput northbound for the regular season. An accommodation of schedules would beryllium indispensable depending connected what the Rays extremity up doing for the 2025 campaign.

The fiberglass dome astatine Tropicana Field was ripped to shreds by the hurricane’s winds, which instantly created uncertainty astir the Rays playing location games determination by the clip the play begins adjacent year. 

The damaged extortion of Tropicana Field, the location of Major League Baseball's Tampa Bay Rays, aft Hurricane Milton made landfall successful downtown St. Petersburg, Fla., Oct. 10, 2024.   (Reuters/Octavio Jones)

The City of St. Petersburg hired the steadfast Hennessy/AECOM to behaviour an investigation of Tropicana Field’s damage, and metropolis spokeswoman Alizza Punzalan-Randle told ESPN different institution had been hired to region the remaining roofing of Tropicana Field. 

"We volition person much accusation connected adjacent steps erstwhile the analyses person been completed and the remaining extortion has been removed," she said. 

Tropicana Field has been location to the Rays since its inaugural play successful 1998. The ballpark, which was constructed successful 1990, was expected to grip winds up to 115 mph, according to the Rays. 

Tropicana Field anterior to opening time betwixt the Tampa Bay Rays and Toronto Blue Jays. (Kim Klement Neitzel/USA Today Sports)

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The harm comes conscionable months aft a $1.3 cardinal task to physique a caller ballpark was approved by the City of St. Petersburg and Pinellas County, which is slated to beryllium unfastened by the commencement of the 2028 season.