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Tampa Bay: We’ll listen to St. Pete ballpark pitch

Tampa Bay RaysThe Tampa Bay Rays will send reps to hear a pitch from developer Darryl LeClair regarding a new St. Petersburg ballpark, but Stuart Sternberg is still pushing a regional solution that also includes Tampa.

LeClair is set to present a plan to the St. Petersburg City County for a new Rays ballpark on a 12-acre site at the Carillon Business Park, located west of the Howard Frankland Bridge, the almost-five-mile bridge connecting St. Pete and Tampa. It’s not necessarily the most convenient of sites (parking would be a hassle), but it would allow St. Pete to keep the Rays.

Assuming, of course, the Rays want to stay in St. Pete. All indications are that the team ownership at least wants a chance to look at Tampa and Hillsborough County sites and funding plans — particularly some newly available parcels downtown. In a letter accepting the Council’s invitation to hear LeClair’s pitch, Sternberg made his feelings clear:

“We will consider any potential ballpark site in Tampa Bay, but only as part of the process that considers every ballpark site in Tampa Bay,” Sternberg wrote.

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