Tampa Bay Rays baseball is up and running again at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.
The Rays won Monday’s home opener 6–4 against the Chicago Cubs. And although they lost 6–2 on Wednesday, 20,483 fans came out in mid-week to support the home team. Still, Tampa Bay dropped the series 1–2. Thursday is an off day, and then on Friday the New York Yankees arrive at Tropicana Field for a weekend, three-game series.
For the Rays’ fan base, having MLB games back in St. Petersburg again, is like having baseball prayers answered. The last time nine innings were played on the Trop’s artificial turf was Game 156—a 4–3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays, on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024.
Monday’s Rays-Cubs matchup was the first time in 561 days that there was a game, or event of any kind, at the Trop—since Hurricane Milton ripped the roof off the 36-year-old structure on Oct. 9, 2024. Gone were the panels made of a Teflon-coated fiberglass fabric. With the region sustaining a combined $700 million worth of damages to public and private property, including the nearly $60 million bill attached to repairing the Trop. Unable to house the Rays as repairs continued last season, the club shifted to their temporary home 21 miles north of St. Petersburg—the Yankees’ spring training site—George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa.
Now, with the roof repaired, and the Rays being sold in September to a new ownership group led by Florida-based real estate developer Patrick Zalupski for $1.7 billion, pursuing their “forever home” in Tampa is at the top of the club’s “to-do” list. Rays management is aggressively pursuing a site and funding for a new ballpark, which they hope to occupy after the 2028 MLB season when their lease at the Trop expires.
Just getting their first regular season game in the books on Monday was viewed as a huge victory by management. Rays CEO Ken Babby spoke with Front Office Sports on Monday about the club’s homecoming.
“This is a truly heroic effort,” Babby said of the ballpark repairs. “It was not long ago that we looked at this building and wondered, ‘Could baseball ever be played here again?’ Not only is this building going to be special on April 6, but our fans are going to walk in and see Tropicana Field in a whole new way.”
As their team begins the season at 5–7, trailing the American League East first place Yankees by 3.5 games heading into this weekend’s series, Rays fans look to the new management group to retain top talent as well as attract some of MLB’s biggest names who have Tampa Bay roots. The contract for Yandy Diaz, the 2023 American League batting champion and all-star, expires at the end of this season. The Rays have a vesting option for the 2027 season to consider at the end of this season. Not keeping him in the fold could send a negative message around the game for other free agents to pass on considering Tampa Bay.
Rays infielder Junior Caminero, now in his second full season in Tampa Bay, is under contract through the 2030 season. He is eligible for salary arbitration in 2028. Signing Caminero to a long-term deal now would go a long way to signaling that Tampa Bay is where the game’s top echelon of talent should consider settling in. In speaking with MLB.com on Monday, Caminero said he liked what he saw at the Trop.
“Wow. When you come back in the Trop now, feeling [like] this is our building,” Caminero said afterward. “The fans today supported the guys. It’s amazing. Super excited to come back to Tropicana.”
Ranking 26th in payroll ($89,632,420) among 30 MLB clubs in 2026, per USA Today, Tampa Bay will need to increase their capacity to bid for free agents, in order to grow attendance at the Trop and in any new stadium constructed. This past off-season, the Rays lost out on Tampa native Pete Alonso, who signed with the Baltimore Orioles. The five-time MLB All-Star signed for $155 million over five years. Kyle Tucker, a teammate of Alonso at Henry B. Pant High School, inked a four-year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers for $240 million. Bo Bichette, who played high school baseball in St. Petersburg, left the Toronto Blue Jays and joined the New York Mets—three years, $126 million.
Even by signing one top free agent and re-signing young talent already in their system, the Rays would send a strong message locally that Tampa Bay is where a championship future awaits them. For now, fans will cling to the comments Tampa Bay native and manager Kevin Cash made to The Orlando Sun prior to Monday’s game. Just getting baseball back to the Trop is a major step for their future.
“I think guys are excited, and rightfully so,” Cash said about the team’s return home. “Our organization has worked incredibly hard and the city and the county, to get back up to speed. I briefly walked through there, couldn’t have been more impressed with the way it looks, and excited to see our fans. I think our guys are going to appreciate just having our fans in the building, cheering us on for our Opening Day.”
