Tag: Tropicana Field

Notes: Rays and the Trop, MLB scrubs diversity, the A’s and Las Vegas

The latest from two stadium subsidy quests, and MLB’s recent political erasures and silence.

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The Rays declined the massive public subsidies they had in place for a new ballpark in St. Petersburgh, but they haven’t abandoned the city or Pinellas County just yet. Which, to be frank, is a little odd, but it seems that current own Stu Sternberg wants to buy a bit more time, but not 30 years’ worth, while he figures out whatever’s next.

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Notes: Twins could sell soon, Rays write another letter

The Twins might have new owners soon, the Rays write another off-base letter, and there’s a fight among Padres owners that’s now in court.

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A real ownership-based version of the notes column today. Back in mid-October, it was reported that the Minnesota Twins were looking to sell, finally freeing the league from the Pohlads, a family that at one time was the wealthiest in the league — yes, even wealthier than George Steinbrenner back when he owned the Yankees — and has spent its decades in the game pretending that’s not true.

It’s just a few months later, but hey look at that, the Twins might even be sold by Opening Day in 2025, according to Dan Hayes at The Athletic. There’s a “robust market” per that report, so there are no concerns a deal can’t be put in place in the next few months. Which is funny, since if you ask a bunch of MLB owners about the business of owning a team, they’ll tell you that it’s not a good investment and not a place to make money. Famously, the wealthiest people around love to spend money on things that won’t make them a profit, so this is a confusing turn of events for those of us without critical thinking skills or a shred of skepticism to cling to.

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Notes: Giants to cut payroll, Trop won’t be fixed for 2025

The Giants plan to cut costs, and we get answers to two of the three key Tropicana roof questions.

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We’ve already seen a few teams plan to cut payroll for the 2025 season, despite their performances in 2024 suggesting maybe some spending would help things. The White Sox leaked that info before the summer’s record-setting disaster had even come to a close, and the Rockies, another 100-game loser, followed suit in October. Then you’ve got clubs like the Cubs, who aren’t actively slashing, but they also are avoiding doing super obvious things they could afford to do and should do like attempting to sign 26-year-old free agent Juan Soto. You know, because of financial flexibility. What good is financial flexibility if having it precludes you from acquiring literally Juan Soto? An important question the people espousing its usefulness do not want you to ask.

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Notes: Rays roof, Twins owners, ESPN’s broadcasting deal

A shredded roof, the Twins are exploring a sale, and ESPN involves themselves in the future of MLB’s local broadcasts.

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It’s kind of incredible that no one inside of Tropicana Field was injured when Hurricane Milton ripped the stadium’s roof to shreds, but thankfully, that’s how things played out. It’s unclear how long it’s going to take to repair the roof — it simply does not exist anymore, an entirely new roof is needed — or what it’s going to cost to do so. There are some educated guesses out there, however, given similar work once done to the Metrodome.

According to the Rays themselves, the roof was designed to hold up against 115 mph winds; Milton blew harder than that, and the roof is no more. While it will take time to fully assess the damage, and opening day is a little over five months away, this process also can’t be rushed — hurricane season isn’t even over yet, after all, and we’re in an era of much larger, and more frequent, major hurricanes, as well.

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