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Rays: No, we’re not interested in limiting ballpark search to St. Pete

Tampa Bay Rays logoAfter the city of St. Petersburg offered to amend the Tampa Bay Rays’ lease to allow for a new ballpark in Pinellas County with no penalties for leaving the Trop, the Rays have countered by saying any new-ballpark search much encompass the entire Tampa Bay area.

After the city of St. Petersburg offered to amend the Tampa Bay Rays’ lease to allow for a new ballpark in Pinellas County with no penalties for leaving the Trop, the Rays have countered by saying any new-ballpark search much encompass the entire Tampa Bay area.

No surprise: the Rays have been saying for weeks that any new search for a new ballpark much include all of the area (i.e, Tampa and Hillsborough County, where the people and the money are). St. Pete officials must see the handwriting on the wall — that the Tropicana Field lease isn’t as iron-clad as many assume it is, especially when the facility is clearly inferior to almost every other ballpark in baseball — and are working hard to keep the Rays. Hence the offer to amend the Tropicana Field lease with no penalty.

Here’s the official response from Matt Silverman, Rays president:

Since Stu’s announcement a few weeks back, we have received an outpouring of support from fans throughout Tampa Bay. They love the Rays and they want to ensure that the team is a permanent fixture in our community.

To secure the long-term future of the Rays here, any search for a new ballpark site needs to explore all of the Tampa Bay region. This is what we repeated to Mayor Foster today. We thanked him for his gesture, and we conveyed to him again that we will consider sites in St. Petersburg and Gateway when we are considering all potential sites in Tampa Bay.

Our organization is singularly focused on the pennant race at hand. Come November, we will work to formulate a process for a ballpark site search with the City of St. Petersburg and Pinellas County.

The ballpark search will continue, of course; the issue is whether the Rays can find a government entity with deep enough pockets to build a ballpark in Tampa.

RELATED STORIES: Can Tampa Bay support MLB?; St. Pete officials now say Trop is replaceable — at a price; Potential new player emerges in Rays ballpark battle; Rays: Time to talk new ballpark again; Rays ballpark brawl: Tampa versus St. Pete; Three Rays ballpark sites recommended by committee; New Rays ballpark discussion shifts to Tampa; Group: Any new Rays ballpark needs retractable roof; Group: Renovating Trop isn’t option in keeping Rays; Rays task force may have prelim recommendations by June — but no site; Rays propose Carillon Town Center site for ballpark

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