Seeing Juan Salas' 50 game suspension wasn't good enough to warrant any discussion...
There
was a piece in the New York Times yesterday about the upcoming Rays series in Orlando. Within the story, Stu Sternberg -- the Rays managing partner -- is quoted as saying Baseball does not feel right indoors,” and that Tropicana Field “We recognize it has a shelf life of five years.”
This has
stirred up a hornets nest of discussion as well as
Sternberg having to further explain his comments. He's not lobbying for a new stadium, he's not asking for a new stadium, he's not demanding a new stadium... He and his investment partners have put 20 million dollars into Tropicana Field the last two seasons and those monies weren't just a five year investment when a much larger piece of change would be required if the team were planning to lobby for a new park.
To describe the situation as Rays fans know it -- Tropicana Field won't be replaced any time soon, especially with how crappy the ballclub has been since it's inception. It doesn't warrant that kind of investment -- no matter how much harping out-of-towners say about the park (or even locals who don't attend games, citing the stadium as an excuse). The team is also locked in to a 30 year lease with hefty fines for breaking it... That alone locks the team in to St. Petersburg.
That being said, a dialog about a new stadium isn't a horrid thing -- it's the absolution that a new stadium is needed and now because of blah, blah, blah.