Tampa Bay Rays Owner Will Sell Team If New Stadium Isn’t Built

Sep 13, 2013; Minneapolis, MN, USA; A general view of a Tampa Bay Rays hat in the dugout during the fifth sixth inning against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

The Tampa Bay Rays are in a dark period f the franchise’s history and it’s one that could engulf the team in chaos, forcing it to be moved to possibly another country.

When the Tampa Bay Rays traded ace and former Cy Young winning pitcher David Price at the trade deadline, that was the beginning of the wheels coming off. Rather than have the car slowly fall apart, Joe Maddon stuck a car bomb on it and blew it to smithereens when he left to take a job with the Chicago Cubs.

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Ever since then there has been talk of the team moving possibly to Montreal to fill the void left by the Expos leaving so many years ago, but that’s not a new discussion. Rather, the Rays have been subjects of relocation rumors ever since a proposed stadium never came to fruition and the team has struggled to find funding for one.

According to the Tampa Bay Times, Rays owner Stuart Sternberg is not going to be moving the team and would sell them before doing such a thing.

"“I’m not leaving. I’m not moving this team. I’m not taking this team out of the area. But that’s me,” Sternberg said at baseball’s winter meetings in San Diego. “The chances of me owning this team in 2023 if we don’t have a new stadium are probably nil. Somebody else will take it and move it. It’s not a threat, just the reality. I won’t be sitting here 10 years from now waiting it out to move the team.”"

This isn’t necessarily good news though, as just because Stuart Sternberg won’t move the team doesn’t mean he won’t sell it to someone who will. Tampa Bay is not a sports city, as established by the losing culture the community has endured since the Buccaneers won the Super Bowl in 2002 and the Rays made it to the World Series in 2008.

It seems the Rays may not be around much longer, as a push for a new stadium is reaching the most critical stage ever.

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