Split season including Montreal isn’t the answer for the Tampa Bay Rays
By Kevin Henry
Discussion about the Tampa Bay Rays splitting the season between the Tampa/St. Petersburg area and Montreal is back in the news again. The idea seems to keep popping up, but it’s one that needs to be buried deep under the Howard Frankland Bridge.
The idea to split the Major League Baseball season between Florida and Montreal is a no-win situation for the Tampa Bay Rays
In a recent letter published in the Tampa Bay Times by leaders in the Tampa Bay area, the idea of a split season between the region and Montreal for the Tampa Bay Rays is floated again … and supported by those signing the letter.
"“The Rays want to stay in Tampa Bay, and we believe we should do what we can to save/keep the team in our region. We believe their Sister City Baseball plan with Montreal is a win-win-win for Tampa Bay, Major League Baseball and Montreal,” reads one section of the letter."
While it makes sense to try to keep the Rays in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area, it doesn’t make sense to build support for that while splitting the team between two locations, giving two fanbases a partial reason to keep up with the team. How excited will anyone truly be about a split-season that crosses international borders and adds another travel wrinkle for the Rays’ opponents as well? How excited will potential free agents be about having two home bases during the season?
Part of the letter also discusses the plan to build an open air stadium in the Ybor City area, which would be home for the Rays for the first part of the season (as well as soccer’s Tampa Bay Rowdies) plus half of all postseason games the Rays might earn. If you really want to keep the Rays in the region and have them embraced by fans, this idea isn’t it.
If you’re discussing building a new stadium for half of a season, why not build the stadium for an entire season and move the Rays from St. Petersburg to Ybor City? If you truly want to keep the Rays in “Champa Bay” (as it is called in the letter), then build excitement for the new stadium while the Rays finish out the time needed to construct it playing in their current home of Tropicana Field?
Yes, Tropicana Field is not a great location to watch a baseball game.
Yes, getting to St. Petersburg can be a pain because of traffic.
Yes, supporting a team that reached the postseason in each of the last three campaigns is important.
Yes, Tampa Bay Rays fans need something to be excited about looking toward the future.
Next. How the Rays are taking their bullpen strategy too far. dark
Keep the Rays in the area. Build a new ballpark. Expand MLB back to Montreal when the time is right. Contrary to the letter’s opinion, that’s truly the best win-win-win for the team, the city, and the good fans of Montreal as well.