Manfred: Rays need to share 'go-forward plan' for future in Tampa

Days before the Tampa Bay Rays' begin their season in a spring-training facility, Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred reiterated his commitment to keeping the Rays in the Tampa Bay area. However, he implored the franchise to share a realistic plan for long-term stability in the market.

"I think the most important point now is that the Rays and (owner Stuart Sternberg) have to come up with a go-forward plan. What it is they intend to do," Manfred told SiriusXM's Chris "Mad Dog" Russo on Wednesday. "I don't think it's realistic to play indefinitely in a repaired (Tropicana Field), but they gotta tell the other clubs, and I think they gotta tell their fan base that they have a plan for making it work in Tampa Bay."

The Rays have temporarily relocated to Tampa's George M. Steinbrenner Field - normally the New York Yankees' spring-training facility - for the 2025 season after Hurricane Milton severely damaged Tropicana Field in October. While their situation is settled for this year, the franchise's long-term outlook grew even more cloudy over the past few weeks.

In mid-March, the Rays announced they were abandoning plans to build a new ballpark next to the Trop in St. Petersburg, despite the city and county voting to publicly finance the facility. That news came on the heels of a report that Manfred and some other MLB owners are pushing Sternberg to sell the team after yet another failed attempt to build a new stadium. Several attempts to build in Tampa have also fallen through over the years.

Manfred said this season presents a good opportunity for Sternberg to show he can own the team in this market long term, and for the Tampa Bay area to show that it trusts Sternberg's ownership group. When asked by Russo if he thinks Sternberg is the owner who can "still get (a stadium deal) done" in the market, Manfred said: "I think that what happens in terms of (the Rays' success playing at) Steinbrenner Field will be indicative of where the franchise (stands)."

For now, the Rays will make the best of a bizarre situation in 2025 by covering up most of the Yankees logos and memorabilia that dot Steinbrenner Field. The city of St. Petersburg is working to repair Tropicana Field in time for Opening Day 2026, in consultation with MLB's in-house engineers. Because of the construction, the Rays' lease at the Trop will be extended by one season, through 2028.

Everything beyond the '28 season, however, is unknown. Although Manfred reiterated his commitment to keeping baseball in the Tampa Bay area, he's still not quite sure how the Rays will get there on either side of the causeway.

"Honestly, I don't know the answer to that," Manfred said when asked if there's any hope of resurrecting the St. Petersburg plan. "And particularly, any sentence that ends with 'for good' is hard to say yes to. The fact of the matter is, we believe in the market, and it's up to the Rays to identify a way to get a stadium in the market."