MLB wants Rays to play home games in Tampa Bay area even if Tropicana Field isn't repaired in time
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred explained the league's hope ahead of the 2025 season
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Tampa Bay Rays’ home field for the 2025 season remains uncertain after Hurricane Milton devastated Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Major League Baseball hopes the franchise can find a way to keep the team’s temporary home near its fan base if damage at "The Trop" cannot be repaired in time, Commissioner Rob Manfred said on "The Varsity" podcast Sunday.
"We’re hopeful that we can figure out something in [the Tampa Bay area] for them and that the repairs can be done in a way that allows them to resume playing," Manfred explained on the podcast. "The easiest thing is always to stay in the market where the clubs are anchored if we can manage it."
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Tropicana Field before a game between the Oakland Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays. (Nathan Ray Seebeck/USA Today Sports)
The suggested alternate home fields for the Rays have been spring training sites of the Philadelphia Phillies, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates and Detroit Tigers, which are all within a reasonable distance from Tropicana Field. The Rays’ spring training complex in Port Charlotte is further away than those sites.
Another option is Disney’s massive ESPN Wide World of Sports complex near Orlando.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}RAYS REACT TO HURRICANE MILTON DECIMATING THEIR HOME TROPICANA FIELD ROOF
The problem with the spring training sites is they host minor league teams after the MLB clubs head north for the regular season. An adjustment of schedules would be necessary depending on what the Rays end up doing for the 2025 campaign.
The fiberglass dome at Tropicana Field was ripped to shreds by the hurricane’s winds, which immediately created doubt about the Rays playing home games there by the time the season begins next year.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The damaged roof of Tropicana Field, the home of Major League Baseball's Tampa Bay Rays, after Hurricane Milton made landfall in downtown St. Petersburg, Fla., Oct. 10, 2024. (Reuters/Octavio Jones)
The City of St. Petersburg hired the firm Hennessy/AECOM to conduct an analysis of Tropicana Field’s damage, and city spokeswoman Alizza Punzalan-Randle told ESPN another company had been hired to remove the remaining roofing of Tropicana Field.
"We will have more information on next steps once the analyses have been completed and the remaining roof has been removed," she said.
Tropicana Field has been home to the Rays since its inaugural season in 1998. The ballpark, which was constructed in 1990, was expected to handle winds up to 115 mph, according to the Rays.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Tropicana Field prior to opening day between the Tampa Bay Rays and Toronto Blue Jays. (Kim Klement Neitzel/USA Today Sports)
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The damage comes just months after a $1.3 billion project to build a new ballpark was approved by the City of St. Petersburg and Pinellas County, which is slated to be open by the start of the 2028 season.