LOS ANGELES (AP) — Major League Baseball wants to find a 2025 home for the Tampa Bay Rays by Christmas.
Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said both the major and minor league schedules could be altered to create room for the Rays, whose Tropicana Field was damaged by Hurricane Milton on Oct. 9.
“We can make it work in a minor league park,” Manfred said Saturday before Game 2 of the World Series. “I think there’s probably some flexibility in terms of what we do with the big league schedule.”
Several minor league ballparks are in the Tampa Bay area, including the spring training homes of the Philadelphia Phillies (Clearwater), Toronto Blue Jays (Dunedin), New York Yankees (Tampa), Pittsburgh Pirates (Bradenton) and Detroit Tigers (Lakeland).
Other options might include the Rays’ own spring training complex in Port Charlotte, about 85 miles (136 kilometers) south of St. Petersburg, and the ballpark at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports complex near Orlando.
“I think by Christmas they've got to have a pretty good plan in place and there’s a lot to that,” Manfred said. “So once we get past Game 7 — and we're going to have seven — we've got to really get focused and figure out where we’re going to be and get the logistics worked out.”
A large part of Tropicana Field's fiberglass roof was destroyed by the storm. City Council member Brandi Gabbard said this week she expected an analysis of the damage done by early November.
“They're still in the damage-assessment mode,” Manfred said. “That needs to get done and, obviously, it was not just the roof. There was damage internally, as well, and won’t know exactly what’s going to happen until they complete that process.”
There continues to be discussion about whether MLB players should be made eligible for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
At the 2021 Tokyo Games, players not on 40-man rosters were eligible, but most big league teams refused to release their top prospects.
“That’s an ongoing conversation, not resolved one way or the other,” Manfred said. “I want to be clear about that. Not a yes, not a no.”
Manfred said it's too soon to determine whether any rule changes should be contemplated to reduce pitcher injuries and reverse the increased use of relief pitchers, which has caused shorter outings for starters. Union head Tony Clark ripped teams Friday, saying they were “blowing out” arms by urging pitchers to throw max effort all the time.
“That’ll be an offseason discussion topic,” Manfred said. "November is a big meeting month."
General managers meet from Nov. 4-7 in San Antonio, Texas, and owners from Nov. 19-21.
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