'We're giving this our best shot': St. Pete still in the game for Rays future, mayor says
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Mayor Ken Welch said St. Petersburg is very much still in the game when it comes to the future of the Tampa Bay Rays.
Friday the Rays will play in front of a sellout crowd as the team opens up their 25th season at Tropicana Field. As the team gets to work on securing another American League Championship, Welch said he's hard at work trying to secure a major league win for the city.
"We're giving this our very best shot," Welch said Thursday at a press conference alongside Rays President Brian Auld. "We met with the Rays yesterday, and we have the understanding that St. Petersburg will receive full consideration for the Rays' future ballpark, and we're moving forward and putting our plans together."
Welch said he believes those plans will convince the Rays to stay in St. Petersburg. The clock is ticking for the team to figure out a future home. The team's lease on their 32-year-old stadium expires at the end of the 2027 season.
Earlier this year Major League Baseball rejected the team's proposal to build two new stadiums and split their season between a Tampa Bay park and Montreal. Since then, the Rays have continued to meet with the mayors of both Tampa and St. Pete to work out a deal on a future stadium.
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"Mayor [Jane] Castor and I are on the same page with a lot of things including this," said Welch. "I think we're both going to put our best proposal on the table and the best proposal will win. I believe that will be in St. Petersburg."
One possible stadium site identified in Tampa is in Ybor City on E Palm Ave and Nuccio Parkway, the former KForce headquarters.
Mayor Welch meanwhile has suggested a new stadium could be built within Tropicana Field's footprint. He's also expressed enthusiasm for a waterfront ballpark on either the current Albert Witted airport or Al Lang Field sites.
"I think all those options are on the table," said Welch. "I'm an accountant by trade, so I want to see the numbers, I want to see the projections, I want to see what the best return is for St. Petersburg in terms of return on investment for the taxpayers of St. Petersburg. That might be a waterfront stadium, that might be a re-imagined stadium at the Trop, but we've got two great options here."
The Rays, meanwhile, have remained mum on all speculation of where they could end up.
As the decades-old drama over their new digs drags on, building costs continue to mount and new concerns over climate change and sea level rise present new challenges to getting a deal done in the Bay Area.
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"Not only does [sea level rise] factor into the stadium, but it factors into everything that we do: The Mahafey Theatre, the Dali [Museum], we have a number of assets that could be impacted by sea level change," said Welch. "It has to be essential to everything we do, not just the Rays stadium."
Though he wasn't willing to delve into specifics, Welch said he's confident the plan St. Pete and Pinellas leaders are putting together to keep the Rays on his side of the bay will end up on top.
"I think we've got the strongest team and the best options for the team, and we're moving forward 100%," said Welch.