They are fooling us, these are the rays of Tampa Bay. Suppose they will use the post-season to help sell the city division concept for the regular season by hanging a banner at the Tropicana Stadium just in time to get national media attention? Then, two days later, they reversed course. No signal; Montreal is not mentioned.
It was as if they had dropped a fig leaf for a second, given everyone a spike, and then quickly covered up. Teasing, teasing, teasing …
But let’s be clear: there are clearly three options in terms of Rays’ future, and many really smart people think keeping the team full-time in the Tampa Bay area is the third option. It’s not hard to find people who think there is a greater chance that the team is only in Montreal than if they are based in Tampa or even split between two cities.
What if we wake up one morning and find out that the Toronto Blue Jays are the second best team in Canada? It has happened before, you know. (Sorry: I just had to.) It could happen again.
You’d think the tensions between Blue Rays and Blue Jays were actually heightened by “Okay, look what I found!” by Kevin Kirmayer. Today? Or that – let’s just say for a second – the Rays decided this weekend that they would prefer the New York Yankees as a potential first round opponent to the Blue Jays and have run out of weaker formations against the Bronx Bombers, about to help. to keep the fork On the 2021 qualifying aspirations for the Blue Jays? How many rounds can Brett Phillips do in a weekend?
Oh hell yeah. I know it. I’m letting my imagination run wild here. But let’s be clear: The Rays have openly expressed their intentions to split the regular season ever since it emerged that the plan had received the blessing of Commissioner Rob Manfred. If nothing else, club president Matt Silverman’s suggestion that the team could announce the plan indicates a tremendous level of comfort on the part of the Rays’ majority owner, Stuart Sternberg.
You’ll need to pave the way in both cities for new outdoor stadiums for the concept to become a reality, and Rays still has six years of lease at Tropicana Field. Therefore, it would have taken several timelines in terms of construction and government approval, and Rays failed to build a park in Tampa despite years of trying.
However, there appears to be an enormous amount of cooperation between Sternberg and his partners in Montreal. Sternberg and Stephen Bronfman are leading the effort, and Bronfman and his group have so far played perfectly behind the scenes, avoiding big claims, and this week went to the ground to balance the Rays property by making the world accustomed to the city-concept of partition focusing on winning a potential world championship.
So here are some thoughts, assumptions and doubts about where we are and how we got here … and where I was told this could all go …
• Splitting beams between two cities requires Major League Baseball approval. Ownership cannot unilaterally impose the transfer. So one theory you will hear is that this could be a bargaining chip to be used in the next round of CBA negotiations, something that could be removed in exchange for something else by the players. “Give us this and the concept of dividing the city will die.” Or maybe the players turn it on against the bosses and say: “Give us this and we will accept the idea of dividing the city”. Nothing happens in a vacuum when CBA talks are on the horizon …
• It is a hoax to get a new football pitch in Tampa, as everyone agrees that Rais cannot survive in St. Petersburg. At first glance, this does not make sense, given that a new football stadium in Tampa will cost the same if it is used for 40 or 81 games and it seems that fewer games mean less tax revenue, which begs the question: what advantage does Tampa have? , aside from the fact that money could be saved on the roof because the team will play in Montreal during the summer storm season?
Whatever the reason, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor supports that split, especially if it leads to the creation of a park in the east of the city, a smaller facility than Raymond James Stadium, with an emphasis on its formation as a home of professionals. Football (Tampa Bay Rhodes or a potential MLS team) and its use as a focal point for local renewal. On the other hand …
• What not to say is the idea that having Montreal sooner could prevent officials from being dragged to Tampa, or make it easier for the Rays to say “hell” and try to extricate themselves from the contract knowing they have a landing spot. But knowing something about the people involved in the Montreal Project and their strong political support, Montreal won’t take off unless they know the Rays will be the tenants.
These are the smarter clubs than those who gladly left Jeffrey Luria and David Samson in expo outside the city, preferring to scapegoat the duo rather than pay to keep the team in Montreal. The current collection is a mix of high tech and play money, plus good old money. There are no dissolved substances. “Serious guys who will play in any city they are in,” was the description an MLB source described to me.
My only concern: If Montreal is going to be a full-time home for the team, the retractable roof is a must. Let’s not get too romantic here: convincing people to take the field in the cold is not easy if the team is facing a non-competitive match. This is not a Montreal thing. It’s something from Cleveland. It’s a Pittsburgh thing. Something in Detroit … a baseball thing. And while people love to be poetic about Gary Park, Fair Stadium, sunny summer days, gentle summer breezes, full moon and full beer, let’s be clear: it’s not the 70s or 80s. In this digital age, people don’t like to freeze their asses to get 10 full house games in April.
So, keep an eye on the cost of the Montreal stadium and how well it fits on the roof. You can’t have 81 home games in Montreal without a cap …
• Why does the Football Association agree with this idea, which seems to create all kinds of family breakdowns, especially since there is no guarantee that it will lead to an increase in salaries? I do not know. Frankly. My guess is that there is a financial problem with this idea of going that far, and I have been led to believe that players are not fully convinced of it.
I can’t see other owners standing in the way of this, as it could theoretically generate more revenue and increase the franchise value for Rays, which in turn would increase the value of their franchise. It is better than just the transfer because other teams are not involved in the transfer. They are participating in the expansion fee and the move will allow key expansion markets in the US to remain open. Long live Las Vegas, baby!
• Will the Blue Jays sign it? Do they need it? I was told they were generally supportive at property meetings, which may simply be an indication of a bigger fish to fry, like building your own new football pitch. The Blue Jays now own the country and have a strong broadcast count. They have re-established a brand that has been brutally attacked since Interbrew’s years of neglect. A new team could break the broadcasting market.
But know this: Blue Jays President and CEO Mark Shapiro knows where the bodies are buried and is a skilled politician, which makes him the right man at the right time. The truth is, determining the value of the Canadian television market is something baseball can’t handle – watch the constant questioning of how ownership of the Blue Jays represents television revenue. This is one of the reasons the New York Yankees asked politely this off-season how the team that didn’t sell a ticket to Toronto managed to sign George Springer on a six-year contract worth $ 150 million…
• Manfred Les Pod Selig. The commissioner knows there aren’t many US markets of unserved significance – Vegas, perhaps, Portland, Nashville – and has often thought of major league teams in Mexico and, yes, Vancouver. Bringing baseball back to Washington, DC was a legacy for Selig. The focus of Manfred seems to be the pace of play, the lack of in-game action and the extraction of new sources of income in an ever-changing world of regulated betting and new modes. Solving long-term problems in Oakland and Tampa is one way to increase the revenue and value of the franchise…
So, there you are. intuitive reaction? The Rays will be in Montreal – full-time, not co-stars – by 2027 after canceling Trop’s lease. However, they will not play in the American Eastern League: instead, the Rays will be a National League team as a peace offering for the Blue Jays.
In the meantime,… Stay tuned for fig leaves falling again this winter.
