MLB wants Rays near Tampa area even if damaged Trop unusable - ESPN

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Major League Baseball hopes to find the Tampa Bay Rays a temporary home near their fan base at least for the start of the 2025 season if the damage to Tropicana Field from Hurricane Milton cannot be repaired in time.

The translucent fiberglass dome at the ballpark in St. Petersburg was shredded by Milton's winds, leaving its immediate future in doubt. A number of spring training sites around the Tampa Bay area have been suggested as temporary homes, and MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said the league wants a location in the region if possible.

«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 said on an episode of «The Varsity» podcast published Sunday. «The easiest thing is always to stay in the market where the clubs are anchored, if we can manage it.»

The Rays have played at Tropicana Field since their inaugural 1998 season, although the building was constructed in 1990. The hurricane damage comes a few months after the city of St. Petersburg and Pinellas County approved a new $1.3 billion ballpark in an adjacent location that would open in the 2028 season and is part of a much larger downtown revitalization project.

The city has hired the Hennessy/AECOM firm to do a complete analysis of the Tropicana Field damage and contracted with another company to remove the remaining roof material, St. Petersburg spokeswoman Alizza Punzalan-Randle said. The city has also filed a claim with its insurance carrier, she said.

«We will have more information on next steps once the analyses have been completed and the remaining roof has been removed,» Punzalan-Randle said.

City Council member Brandi