Rays Tank: Manfred expects a stadium solution “by Christmas”

Also, it’s a little early for Scrooge references, Halloween is later this week!

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred expects the Rays to know where they are playing in 2025 before the end of the calendar year, per the media scrum before Game 2 of the World Series, saying “by Christmas they’ve got to have a pretty good plan in place.”

Read More from the Times: Decision on Rays’ interim home is pending assessment of Trop damage

This timeframe is a reasonable expectation. The MLB schedule is released almost a year in advance to allow teams to book travel and accommodations at the various preferred hotels, and to arrange air travel.

As the article notes, new venues may require a new MLB schedule, which the league will entertain but planning will need to occur accordingly. Manfred specifically noted a minor league park as a viable option, but didn’t say much else.

Rays News

• The St Pete Catalyst obtained initial bids to work on the Trop roof, and believes the city has hired Global Rope Access (GRA) for stadium debris removal at a cost of $416,353. This cost is separate from the ongoing damage assessment and any future work to be performed.
• Pete Fairbanks, the Rays MLBPA union rep, says it would be a “disservice” to play games outside the Tampa Bay area
• The Rays continued volunteering to help Hurricane victims, paying for laundry at local laundromat

• No surprise here: The Rays scored a league lowest 32% in the newly created Scrooge Index, which does not account for fixed costs such as payroll and benefits, fixed assets, etc
• Here’s Xavier Isaac hitting a high exit velo homerun in the Arizona Fall League

Other News

• Ratings for this World Series is peaked at nearly 2x the viewers for last year’s Game 1
• Shohei Ohtani is expected to play through his partially dislocated shoulder suffered during a slide into second base in Game 2
• Yoshinobu Yamamoto Has a Secret Weapon
• David Laurila asks why there isn’t an afternoon game over the weekend for the World Series

Final Splash