MLB wants clarity on the status of Tropicana Field by Christmas

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Major League Baseball hopes to know by Christmas whether Tropicana Field will be playable for the start of the 2025 season after its roof was ripped off by Hurricane Milton earlier this month.

Commissioner Rob Manfred said before Game 2 of the World Series on Saturday that the process to determine whether timely repairs to the Tampa Bay Rays' stadium are feasible is still ongoing.

“They’re still in damage assessment mode,” Manfred said. “They're trying to figure out how much damage there is that needs to be fixed, and obviously it wasn't just the roof.”

Manfred noted that several options are available if Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, is not ready for opening day. That includes playing at a minor league or spring facility, with a source saying Tampa, Dunedin and Clearwater are among the possible nearby cities.

The New York Yankees' Single-A team, the Tampa Tarpons, plays in Tampa, but it is unknown whether that will likely be the home of the Rays. There are also several other minor league teams in the area.

Wherever the Rays play, the field and/or stadium would likely need to be remodeled to accommodate two major league teams.

“It starts with the playing surface and the security of the ballpark itself,” Tony Clark, executive director of the MLB Players Association, said Friday before Game 1 of the series. “Make sure you can do the job you need to do and that the surface and the ballpark are up to major league standards.”

The league is already remodeling another minor league park in Sacramento, California, to accommodate the Athletics while its new stadium is being built in Las Vegas. Due to the summer heat, the league is installing a turf surface to make conditions safer.

As for the Rays, it's also possible that the MLB or Minor League Baseball schedule will need to be altered slightly to accommodate a move to a different park, but the league has yet to decide on a course of action. That should come before the new year.

“There was damage internally as well, and we won’t know exactly what will happen until this process is complete,” Manfred said.