Tampa Bay Rays relocation may be inevitable now
The Tampa Bay Rays were hopeful of building a future in the area. With their stadium deal falling apart, it is seemingly a matter of time before the Rays move on to greener pastures.
There was hope for the future of the Tampa Bay Rays. The organization had found a location for a new, state of the art stadium, one that would hopefully solve their financial woes. Tropicana Field would be in the past, with a glass and chrome palace dedicated to baseball set to come in the next couple of years. Those days of frugality, and having to part ways with virtually every player due to finances, were about to be over.
And then, everything changed. The proposed stadium deal in Ybor City is dead, without enough progress on the framework of a deal in place to make such a proposal feasible. This leaves the Rays stuck in the Trop until 2027, making that cycle of lower payrolls and pinning their hopes on prospects an ongoing reality.
While principal owner Stuart Sternberg is saying all the right things when it comes to keeping the Rays in Tampa Bay, that has become a much harder sell. The Rays need to have a lot better financial picture, and that is not going to happen given the current landscape. Something needs to change.
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If that something is not a new stadium, it may be time to seriously discuss relocating the Rays. The topic has been broached before, but there was always that sliver of hope that a new stadium would make the Tampa Bay area an attractive spot for a franchise. A new deal, new sponsorship money, and a transportation network designed to help fans get to the ballpark could allow the Rays to thrive.
They may well thrive in time, but it is not likely to be in Tampa Bay. There are opportunities for the Rays to head elsewhere, such as the idea of going to Montreal as the second coming of the Expos, or to head out west to Portland. There are other possible relocation areas as well, which could lead to the Rays having the security they need.
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The Tampa Bay Rays thought they had a deal in place to make the franchise viable in Florida for years to come. Instead, it is time to seriously consider relocating to a better environment for baseball.