Rays have explored becoming 2 city team (with Montreal) (upd: rejected by MLB)

[BKIslandersFan]

All valid questions.

Apparently the lease is iron clad where the team would need to negotiate with the city for a buy out. They did have one from 2016-19 which gave the team a window to look anywhere in the Bay area. During that time, the team perused Ybor City. Since the team didn't chose St. Petersberg, the mayor has refused to negotiate a new out clause since. He's termed out and a new mayor will be in place in January.

I would think the team will try and negotiate a new out clause so they can get to Montreal and/or Tampa sooner in exchange for the Rays share to redevelop the land where the Trop sits.

Hopefully there will be a buyout and then they can drop the split city plan since they can move somewhere else weather in our out of market.

Why are we acting like 2028 is far away? Relatively speaking it isn't. Rays need somewhere to play during the construction not to mention redtapes involved in actually getting the shovel in to the ground.

 

[Bjorn Le]

You finally sorted it all out. Anyone who thinks that this split season thing will happen is optimistic, but outright foolish for a few reasons:
-MLBPA isn't going to go for it
-Players aren't going to go for it, AND further reduce take home pay
-Nobody is Florida is giving that wall street f*** a stadium
-I don't think anyone is stupid enough to give him a stadium in Montreal

That said, I don't see how they stay in Florida because after the shit Stu has pulled for a decade, he can f*** right off and Canada can have him.

Despite what Sternberg says, I doubt he has any intention to be majority owner if the franchise relocates to Montreal. There’s been no indication he’s been directly involved in the talks with the Province and the City in the Griffintown/Peel Basin project. That’s all Bronfman + friends.

Maybe Sternberg would take a minority stake in a solo Montreal team but certainly not as full owner. The intention seems to be cultivate the market for relocation and then cash out.

We should find out how far along the stadium plans are after the election on November 7. Neither Corderre nor Plante will commit to public money but the Quebec gov has more or less already said they don’t oppose public funding because they view funding as improving tax revenue long term.

 

[Voight]

You finally sorted it all out. Anyone who thinks that this split season thing will happen is optimistic, but outright foolish for a few reasons:
-MLBPA isn't going to go for it
-Players aren't going to go for it, AND further reduce take home pay
-Nobody is Florida is giving that wall street f*** a stadium
-I don't think anyone is stupid enough to give him a stadium in Montreal

That said, I don't see how they stay in Florida because after the shit Stu has pulled for a decade, he can f*** right off and Canada can have him.

These were the same reasons I had.

Players for one are going to flip out. They have to live in a COMPLETELY different city for half the season on top of paying higher taxes for half the season and having a drastically different quality of life.

 

[These Are The Days]

Why are we acting like 2028 is far away? Relatively speaking it isn't. Rays need somewhere to play during the construction not to mention redtapes involved in actually getting the shovel in to the ground.

There's a site in the Ybor City area of Tampa that the Rays seem to actually be committed to this time. As a fan, this is probably the last chance this thing has

 

[BKIslandersFan]

There's a site in the Ybor City area of Tampa that the Rays seem to actually be committed to this time. As a fan, this is probably the last chance this thing has

Committed to privately funding it?

 

[These Are The Days]

Committed to privately funding it?

Heh, that's the half billion dollar question isn't it? It's just known they really like it and apparently intend on moving forward with Hillsborough County to at least some degree

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.ta...me-met-with-cautious-optimism/?outputType=amp

I will say this much, if this flops we're likely going to lose at least another year and likely no matter what all we're going to hear is "wHaT aBoUt MoNtReAl" as if a second city in another country has everything to do with this

 

[These Are The Days]

@BKIslandersFan

I may be wrong but I think this may be further than Oakland is in their affairs. Big LOL's to move the Rays into an even bigger Tropicana Field in another country while asking fans to pay to replace original Tropicana Field

 

[BKIslandersFan]

@BKIslandersFan

I may be wrong but I think this may be further than Oakland is in their affairs. Big LOL's to move the Rays into an even bigger Tropicana Field in another country while asking fans to pay to replace original Tropicana Field

Naw you are right. A's at least committed to paying for the stadium itself privately.

 

[These Are The Days]

Naw you are right. A's at least committed to paying for the stadium itself privately.

They did really? What the hell happened?

 

[SSF]

That parcel of land in Ybor, even with the college property attached and figuring out what to do with Nuccio Pkwy between both parcels, is fairly small and there is no room for the necessary infrastructure. The architects are going to have to get creative with siting a stadium and at least some parking in 19 acres of space; especially given that going any way to purchase more land is going to mean you bump into condemning residential properties

 

[Taro Tsujimoto]

It's dead:

 

[Mightygoose]

Most sensible conclusion. Why did it take this long to reach this?

Now the question is 'where' did the plan die

 

[Scandale du Jour]

Most sensible conclusion. Why did it take this long to reach this?

Now the question is 'where' did the plan die

It was always dead.

Next step is Sterling threatening to relocate if he cannot get a deal done in the region.

 

[Big Z Man 1990]

I'm glad it was rejected.

I want Tampa Bay and Montreal to have separate full-time teams, both of which would be in the Continental League under my proposal

 

[John Price]

MLB nixes Rays' split-season plan with Montreal

this proposal was stupid anyway

stay in one city

 

[GKJ]

I think it was simply an idea they did due diligence on. It was never likely to happen, much less serious.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

MLB can make good decisions still? Huh...

 

[Fenway]

TOPKIN: "On the Tampa Side, This Has a Better Chance to Succeed"

January 20, 2022 • 11 min
Tampa Bay Times Rays reporter Marc Topkin joins Ian and Jay on Thursday to discuss the breaking news that the Rays do NOT Plan to pursue a split-city plan! What are the biggest issues? Well, location, and competition for the entertainment dollar are always there, and with attendance dropping over the last 13 or so years, there's no guarantee a new stadium will work, though Marc feels a better chance for success exists in Tampa for the Rays. Marc says the Rays were crushed by MLB's decision, and that the team has no plan B in the event this fell through. Marc talks all this and MORE.

 

[Fenway]

Rays Owner Stu Sternberg (1-20-22)

January 20, 2022 • 35 min

Rays principle owner Stu Sternberg met with the media on Thursday to discuss Major League Baseball's decision to not allow the Tampa Bay-Montreal split city concept to continue.

 

[Fenway]

 

[joestevens29]

Only would make sense if the cities were close

expected players to have places to leave in two different countries is stupid. I’m not even sure how visas for they would even work either

 

[archangel2]

Not shocked by this

 

[93LEAFS]

The plan seemed overly complex. I'd love to see a Canadian rival in MTL again (easy road trip with no cross border stuff) in a fun city. Hopefully they either figure out how to build somewhere in Tampa that can get attendance or they figure out how to move to Montreal without a publicly funded stadium.

 

[These Are The Days]

Oh no how devastating... How will we ever have baseball for generations to come without giving up our team half the year to a market a thousand miles away

 

[These Are The Days]

I think it was simply an idea they did due diligence on. It was never likely to happen, much less serious.

I promise I'm not trying to be a wise cracking asshole this time, but our ownership was DEAD ASS serious about this. To the point of trying to put out signs during our playoff games. These dudes worked harder on Montreal for the last 6 months than they have on getting anything built in Tampa for the last 6 years. It was a shameless money grab and they didn't even try to hide it and would've let themselves get away with it if MLB did. It wasn't even due diligence, we straight up got told our team can't survive without this