The Rays officially have a new owner. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports that the sale from Stuart Sternberg to a group led by Patrick Zalupski is now rubber stamped with the sale officially closing today.
“It’s an incredible honor to become the stewards of the Tampa Bay Rays, a franchise with a proud history and a bright future,” Zalupski said in a news release. “We are especially privileged to have been chosen by Stu Sternberg as his successors, and we’re all energized by the responsibility to serve Rays fans everywhere and this great game.”
This development was largely a formality. The reported $1.7 billion sale price was agreed to back in July and it was approved by Major League Baseball owners last week. It was noted that the time of that approval last week that the sale still needed to formally close, though that box is now ticked and the keys have changed hands.
Now that the new ownership group is in place, the attention will turn to the unanswered questions surrounding the franchise. The Rays had to play in a minor league park this year due to the extensive hurricane damage done to Tropicana Field. It is hoped that The Trop can be repaired and playable in time for the start of the 2026 season. The club’s lease originally ran through 2027 but the lost year in 2025 has extended that through 2028.
There isn’t a formal plan in place for 2029 and beyond. Zalupski is expected to explore building a new stadium in Tampa itself, as opposed to St. Petersburg, where The Trop is located. That process will take time, as the Rays will have to work out all the particulars with government officials to get the new venue designed, approved, funded, etc.
As Zalupski works on that, president of baseball operations Erik Neander will work on making the club as competitive as possible. Topkin reports that Neander will stay in his job. That’s not especially surprising, as the Rays have generally performed well on tight budgets throughout his tenure. In early 2024, he and manager Kevin Cash were extended through at least 2028.
However, the Rays are currently in a bit of a downswing. They just finished 77-85 after posting an 80-82 record last year. The last time they had losing records in consecutive seasons was back in 2016 and ’17. Amid the uncertainty away from the roster, it’s unclear what kind of resources Neander will have to work with this winter. Topkin notes that there is an introductory press conference scheduled for October 7th, at which point the new owners might shed more light on the next steps for the franchise.
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