ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. _ Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg was adamant in explaining Tuesday that the plan to split the season with Montreal is a solution to make the team successful in both markets and not a step toward leaving the Tampa Bay area:
"To be clear, this is not a staged exit. That thought has never entered my mind."
Nor, Sternberg said is it "a page out of a playbook to gain leverage" to get a new stadium built as a full-time home in the Tampa Bay area, which he said they no longer feel would solve the problems.
Rather, he said, the issue is the volume of playing 81 home games _ "a lot of games," Sternberg said _ and by splitting the schedule it will make the team more successful in both markets.
"We are focused on this plan," he said during a media session under the geodesic dome of the Dali museum. "We are focused on how the Rays can thrive here in Tampa Bay. This is about Tampa Bay keeping its hometown team and Montreal having one as well _ a permanent arrangement, a generational commitment to both communities. ... We think this can and will be extraordinary for the (Tampa Bay) region."
Sternberg said several times they are "champions of the Tampa Bay area" and how much more connected to the area he feels since buying a home in St. Petersburg, Fla., and see this as a plan to keep baseball in the area beyond the use agreement for the Tropicana Field that ends in 2027.
But that is only if this plan, which he called a "creative and sensible solution," with the result being "baseball thriving in both places like it could not, like it would not, if all 81 home games took place in one place." They would like the split plan to start in 2024.
While maintaining he didn't know what would happen if the plan failed, Sternberg made it quite clear on several times during the 50 minute session that "we never say never but after all we've been through and what we've learned it's highly unlikely" they would pivot back to pursuing a full-time home in the Tampa Bay.
"I don't see it happening in St. Petersburg, and I would be hard-pressed to see it happen in Tampa as well, just given what I know," he said.
Sternberg said he is not planning to sell the team (but would take on some Montreal investors as minority partners), and that even if this doesn't work they plan to honor the use agreement at the Tropicana Field through it's 2027 end.
A key element of the plan is building new ballparks in both communities _ open air and intimate, with 30,000 or fewer seats.
Sternberg said the potential sites for the new stadium to be built in the Tampa Bay area are subject to exploration, but that the downtown waterfront site of Al Lang Stadium is "definitely a possibility."
He also confirmed that shifting spring training back to the Tampa Bay area from Port Charlotte is "definitely on the table."
A key hurdle, perhaps most significant, is getting permission from St. Petersburg, since the lease agreement requires the Rays to play all home games through 2027 at Tropicana Field. Mayor Rick Kriseman said Tuesday he'd be willing to talk about it, but only if the new stadium were built in St. Petersburg and be privately funded, with no city contribution.
"If Mr. Sternberg wishes to formally explore this concept with me and his desire to privately and fully fund a new stadium in the City of St. Petersburg, I am willing to listen," Kriseman said in a statement. "The City of St. Petersburg will not participate in the funding of a new stadium for a part-time team. We remain receptive to partnering with the Tampa Bay Rays to redevelop the Tropicana Field site and build a new stadium for a full-time team. St. Pete's future has never been brighter and every business and baseball team in America should want to be a part of it."
Kriseman also took a slight jab: "Finally, I believe progress moves at the speed of the trust. If Mr. Sternberg is serious about this idea or any other, it will require the re-establishment of a good working relationship with my office."
Top Rays officials called the media session to start explaining publicly why moving half their home games to Montreal each season is the best and potentially only way to keep Major League Baseball in the Tampa Bay area long term.
Getting fans and area leaders to believe them _ that this is not just a ploy to re-start stadium negotiations locally or a plan to relocate and leave the area completely _ will be a major-league challenge.
