Tropicana Field has always been a lousy place to watch a baseball game.
I went to about 40 games there when I lived in Florida from 2004-05.
It was a shithole even back then.
But at least back then, you could watch a baseball game there.
After Hurricane Milton slammed into the Florida coast, the Rays are now homeless.
I never would have guessed it would cost $100 million to replace a fabric roof.
However, the Rays have committed to building a new stadium.
So by all accounts, the Rays needs somewhere to play until their new stadium is ready.
So where should they go?
Here are some options that could be considered:
Oakland Coliseum
The stadium obviously sucks.
The travel to other AL East cities would be a nightmare to deal with.
But, this is a major league-ready stadium that is just sitting there.
With the CBA, stadiums have to have certain amenities for the players.
As lousy as the Coliseum is, it does check those boxes and is just sitting there.
but it is a stadium that you’ve got the option to plug and play.
That means you’d have an open stadium nearly every day during the baseball season.
This would suck for the Rays in that they would never have a true home ballpark.
It would be a huge pain in the ass.
But they are MLB-ready stadiums.
Plus, I’d love to get even more baseball here in NYC.
Tampa/Dunedin
Florida has no shortage of minor league ballparks.
You also have all the Spring Training locations.
The Blue Jays contemplated played in Dunedin during COVID-19.
That obviously wouldn’t have been with fans in the stands.
Them having to leave the state for potentially three seasons would be wild.
But then again, we also have the A’s spending the next three years in Sacramento.
The 2025-27 American League is going to be a weird as fuck.
