New Rays owners holding first news conference

TAMPA - There are lots of questions for the new owners of the Tampa Bay Rays, and by Tuesday morning, there will be answers.

The backstory:

Members of the new ownership group, including head honcho Patrick Zalupski, will hold their first press conference to set the direction for the team.

Fans, public officials, taxpayers and the media have been clamoring to find out what sites they will consider for the new stadium, how much they plan to invest in the team itself, and how they will communicate with Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties.

"I am really optimistic that this new ownership group is going to turn the page on those discussions," said Hillsborough County Commissioner Harry Cohen.

Dig deeper:

Cohen is hoping the news conference being held in Tampa and at Steinbrenner Field is more than a coincidence. 

Is it a sign new owners are prioritizing Tampa? 

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The other big question: How much is he going to offer from his group's funds, and thus ask for from the public?

"We're not going to vote on something that we haven't had plenty of time to scrutinize, discuss, analyze, debate," said Cohen.

Big picture view:

The previous owner, Stu Sternberg, negotiated to get $600 million from Pinellas County and the City of St Pete, and promised to cover any cost overruns beyond the $600 million he promised to kick in. 

That deal fell apart when Hurricane Milton swept through, which ripped the Trop's roof off and led to commission votes being delayed. 

The city is fulfilling its requirement to rebuild the Trop, but will their relationship go beyond that?

"What does this new partnership look like? How are we going to operate together?" asked St. Pete Council Chair Copley Gerdes.

The roof of Tropicana Field ripped off from Hurricane Milton.

What they're saying:

Will the money the governments on the Pinellas side can offer overcome Hillsborough's perceived advantages on location?

"The best place for baseball to be in the Tampa Bay area (is) St. Petersburg," said Gerdes. "I continue to believe in that same thing. And so if they want to look at Tampa, I'll think they'll continue to find the difficulties."

The other big question is how they plan to invest in the team itself? 

Will they continue to focus on finding low-cost players who can keep the team competitive, or will they begin to pursue big-name free agents, in hopes they can find the right recipe to bring not just a stadium to Tampa Bay, but a title?

"To have an ownership group that has some ties not only to Florida, but the region I think is important," said Gedes, "And so we're going to see what it's all about here, I think, pretty soon, but it's certainly an exciting time."

What's next:

Tuesday's press conference is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. at Steinbrenner Field, and will feature the head of the ownership group, Patrick Zalupski, as well as co-chair Bill Cosgrove and CEO Ken Babby.