THE Tampa Bay Rays face having to find a new home for the 2025 Major League Baseball season.
And the New York Yankees could be the team to ride to their rescue.
Tropicana Field was severely damaged by Hurricane Milton last week[/caption]
The New York Yankees play Spring Training games at George M. Steinbrenner Field in downtown Tampa[/caption]
The Rays‘ Tropicana Field home in St Petersburg, Florida had the roof shredded by Hurricane Milton last week.
The MLB side face a repair bill that could cost close to $40 million.
And they also face a race against time to get the stadium ready for the season to begin in March.
But the MLB franchise’s decision is complicated by the fact they were set to build a new home anyway.
The Rays are set to move stadium in 2028 – leaving them with three years at Tropicana Field.
And a decision has yet to be taken on whether to press ahead with a costly repair bill.
The region is a hot bed for baseball with no shortage of ballparks.
And the New York Yankees could rescue the MLB side.
The Yankees play their Spring Training home games at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
The ballpark is located next door to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Raymond James Stadium.
It has a capacity of 14,000 fans and is closer to downtown Tampa than the Rays’ Tropicana Field home in Fort Myers.
The Tampa Bay Rays averaged 17,781 fans per game in 2023 – less than half of Tropicana Field’s 42,375 capacity.
But the team could have sellout crowds every night in a ballpark closer to their home city at the Yankees’ base.
The Sun understands that most Spring Training bases in the region escaped serious damage from Hurricane Milton.
And any damage is highly unlikely to cause any issues for Spring Training in February and March next year.
The Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies both have their spring bases just north of Tropicana Field.
The Baltimore Orioles and Pittsburgh Pirates are just to the south of the Bay region.
And the Boston Red Sox and Minnesota Twins both play Spring Training games in Fort Myers, even further south.
The Rays had a 80-82 record in the 2024 season and finished fourth in the American League East division.
At least 23 people have been killed by the storm and millions of people were left without power.
