ST. PETERSBURG, FL — The Rays are here to stay, in the words of principal owner Stu Sternberg, after the Pinellas County Commission on Tuesday approved the plan for the new stadium in St. Petersburg. Following the similar approval by the St. Petersburg City Council two weeks earlier, the path is cleared for a state-of-the-art intimate ballpark for the Tampa Bay Rays.
The goal for completion is Opening Day 2028 — read more here on Latino Sports.
Rendering of new Tampa Bay Rays ballpark, set to open in 2028 – Image Credit: MLB
Tuesday was also a big day for the Rays otherwise, as it was for almost the entire league. If you’re a Tampa Bay fan whose favorite players included Yandy Díaz, Brendan Lowe and closer Pete Fairbanks, you breathed a sigh of relief once the trading deadline came at 6:00 PM Eastern Time. With rumors swirling around, each of those three remained not getting dealt.
But for fans of the Rays’ All-Star Isaac Parades, plus Zach Eflin, Jason Adam, Ahmed Rosario and, of course, Randy Arozarena, it was a very different feeling. All were shipped out by the Rays, who were one of the busier teams in this year’s very active trading period.
Former Rays Randy Arozarena (Mariners), and Isaac Paredes (Cubs), both got dealt during MLB’s Trade Deadline – Image Credit: MLB
Three-for-ones: each of the trades they made for Arozarena, Paredes, Adam and Eflin brought back three players. Most were prospects, so the analysis of which team gets the better of each deal will not be known for a few years.
Meanwhile, on the field, the action continued. Christoper Morel, coming over from the Cubs in the Paredes trade, homered Tuesday in his second at-bat as a Ray. The next day, he homered in his second straight game.
Morel's first dinger in the dome! pic.twitter.com/iLVzfxPtyA
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) July 31, 2024
Tampa Bays’ dominance of rubber games remained intact. They won a franchise-record 10th consecutive deciding third game of a three-game series on Sunday vs. Cincinnati. After then, finishing July by splitting two games with the Miami Marlins, they are unbeaten in their last seven series (5-0-2) and 9-1-2 in their last 12 series.
Still, if the season ended today, they would miss the playoffs for the first time since 2018.
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