Rob Manfred wants to have Tampa Bay Rays' 2025 plans set by Christmas

Major League Baseball wants to find a 2025 location for nan Tampa Bay Rays by Christmas

LOS ANGELES -- Major League Baseball wants to find a 2025 location for nan Tampa Bay Rays by Christmas.

Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said some nan awesome and insignificant convention schedules could beryllium altered to create room for nan Rays, whose Tropicana Field was damaged by Hurricane Milton connected Oct. 9.

“We tin make it activity successful a insignificant convention park,” Manfred said Saturday earlier Game 2 of nan World Series. “I deliberation there’s astir apt immoderate elasticity successful position of what we do pinch nan large convention schedule.”

Several insignificant convention ballparks are successful nan Tampa Bay area, including nan outpouring training homes of nan Philadelphia Phillies (Clearwater), Toronto Blue Jays (Dunedin), New York Yankees (Tampa), Pittsburgh Pirates (Bradenton) and Detroit Tigers (Lakeland).

Other options mightiness see nan Rays’ ain outpouring training analyzable successful Port Charlotte, astir 85 miles (136 kilometers) southbound of St. Petersburg, and nan ballpark astatine Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports analyzable adjacent Orlando.

“I deliberation by Christmas they've sewage to person a beautiful bully scheme successful spot and there’s a batch to that,” Manfred said. “So erstwhile we get past Game 7 — and we're going to person 7 — we've sewage to really get focused and fig retired wherever we’re going to beryllium and get nan logistics worked out.”

A ample portion of Tropicana Field's fiberglass tile was destroyed by nan storm. City Council personnel Brandi Gabbard said this week she expected an study of nan harm done by early November.

“They're still successful nan damage-assessment mode,” Manfred said. “That needs to get done and, obviously, it was not conscionable nan roof. There was harm internally, arsenic well, and won’t cognize precisely what’s going to hap until they complete that process.”

There continues to beryllium chat astir whether MLB players should beryllium made eligible for nan 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

At nan 2021 Tokyo Games, players not connected 40-man rosters were eligible, but astir large convention teams refused to merchandise their apical prospects.

“That’s an ongoing conversation, not resolved 1 measurement aliases nan other,” Manfred said. “I want to beryllium clear astir that. Not a yes, not a no.”

Manfred said it's excessively soon to find whether immoderate norm changes should beryllium contemplated to trim pitcher injuries and reverse nan accrued usage of alleviation pitchers, which has caused shorter outings for starters. Union caput Tony Clark ripped teams Friday, saying they were “blowing out” arms by urging pitchers to propulsion max effort each nan time.

“That’ll beryllium an offseason chat topic,” Manfred said. "November is simply a large gathering month."

General managers meet from Nov. 4-7 successful San Antonio, Texas, and owners from Nov. 19-21.

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