The Montreal-Tampa Rays?

[bosrs1 905]

21 minutes ago, pmoehrin said:

The Rays can talk to Montreal all they want, but the city of St. Pete has already announced any potential move like this violates their lease agreement.

 

I doubt the Rays are going anywhere until at least 2027.

 

The city claiming it violates the lease doesn’t mean it violates the lease. 

[Gothamite 15,525]

9 minutes ago, SFGiants58 said:

The team only exists because of Vince Naimoli’s lawsuit. Either face a $3.5 billion anti-trust lawsuit or give some cheap doofus an expansion team. Also, after blue-balling the market for so long, an expansion team was a half-decent way to save face. Now, we see that the people who doubted the market during the 1980s/90s were right. As I’ve said before, MLB teams, St. Pete politicians/civil servants, and Tampa Bay Area owners killed regular season MLB baseball in the market even before a team could take the field.

 

That’s the impression I got, anyway.

 

I get that people were turned off by ownership, but in any other market winning a lot and going to a World Series would put hard feelings aside. 

 

I can’t think of another market so indifferent to its team.  So indifferent that its own players have to call it out. 

[bcon_731 48]

I just dont understand, the commuting distance. If they were going to Tampa to San Juan, that makes sense. But youre going to travel, make sure all the visas are taken care of, from america to a different country. Just feels like alot of leaps and bounds to compensate not getting a new stadium.  

[Magic Dynasty 1,417]

Stolen from Reddit, but this sums up the situation really well.

 

..Montreal would sell the  out like crazy in their split of the games becasue YAY BASEBALL IS BACK and maybe we can even get them to move fully to Montreal!

...Meanwhile, back in Tampa, NO ONE WOULD GO. Why would they? They know this is BS and a ploy to get a move to Montreal. If you think attendance is bad now, wait until this happens. They might get attendance in the hundreds for many games.

And then....Sternberg and MLB would be able to say "look see? Montreal will support us, AND they'll build us a stadium. We have to move. Bye Tampa Bay!"

This is a move designed to make this move look great for everyone....except Tampa.

[SFGiants58 7,720]

21 minutes ago, Gothamite said:

 

I get that people were turned off by ownership, but in any other market winning a lot and going to a World Series would put hard feelings aside. 

 

I can’t think of another market so indifferent to its team.  So indifferent that its own players have to call it out. 

 

Yeah, that’s the point that gets me. Even Arizona, Miami/Florida, and other teams with long periods of failure have had attendance go up with successful runs. None of them had to give away World Series tickets, AFAIK. The Trop’s location doesn’t help matters, but even that isn’t an adequate explanation. This also applies to the TV ratings numbers, since that doesn’t necessarily translate to the long-term viability of the team.

 

We can blame the process of getting a team for the disinterest all we want (and I assign some percentage of it for liking the passion and establishing doubt in MLB’s Tampa Bay efforts), but the interest has never really been there.

[mania 258]

8 minutes ago, Magic Dynasty said:

 This is a move designed to make this move look great for everyone....except Tampa.

 

You know what would be a great move for Tampa?

 

Not this.

 

 

[Ferdinand Cesarano 3,777]

38 minutes ago, Gothamite said:

In retrospect, not a good expansion choice. They’re a distant third favorite in their own market. 

 

22 minutes ago, Gothamite said:

I get that people were turned off by ownership, but in any other market winning a lot and going to a World Series would put hard feelings aside. 

 

I can’t think of another market so indifferent to its team.  So indifferent that its own players have to call it out. 

 

1 minute ago, SFGiants58 said:

Yeah, that’s the point that gets me. Even Arizona, Miami/Florida, and other teams with long periods of failure have had attendance go up with successful runs. None of them had to give away World Series tickets, AFAIK.

 

That's what Major League Baseball gets for putting a team in a spring training location.

 

[Bucfan56 7,151]

The only way I'm cool with this is if they're the Tampa bay Rays for half of the season, and the Montreal Expos for the other half. They have to switch leagues after the All Star break, too. 

[SFGiants58 7,720]

1 minute ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

 

 

 

That's what Major League Baseball gets for putting a team in a spring training location.

 

 

Would you be saying that if the Marlins had competent ownership and didn’t perform the first fire sale?

 

Baseball in Florida could absolutely work, it’s just that it was handled in the worst way possible.

[GDAWG 727]

So how is the attendance for the Lightning as compared to the Rays?

[insert name 3,820]

If they're gonna move the Rays to Montreal then I request the (Ex)Rays and Nationals to swap leagues to have DC back in the AL and Montreal back in the NL. Order will then be restored.

[Ferdinand Cesarano 3,777]

1 minute ago, SFGiants58 said:

5 minutes ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

That's what Major League Baseball gets for putting a team in a spring training location.

 

Would you be saying that if the Marlins had competent ownership and didn’t perform the first fire sale?

 

Yes.  I was opposed to the awarding of a team to Miami in the first place on the grounds that Florida is for spring training.

 

 

2 minutes ago, SFGiants58 said:

Baseball in Florida could absolutely work, it’s just that it was handled in the worst way possible.

 

Baseball can indeed work there: spring training, Florida State League, Gulf Coast League.  But a Major League team?  No.

[Magic Dynasty 1,417]

3 minutes ago, GDAWG said:

So how is the attendance for the Lightning as compared to the Rays?

You can't compare that. The Lightning are in a modern arena in downtown Tampa. The Rays are in the worst stadium in the league, in St. Petersburg, which is 45 minutes to an hour away from their main fanbase on the Tampa side of the bay.

1 minute ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

 

Yes.  I was opposed to the awarding of a team to Miami in the first place on the grounds that Florida is for spring training.

 

 

 

Baseball can indeed work there: spring training, Florida State League, Gulf Coast League.  But a Major League team?  No.

So baseball fans in Florida who want to support major league teams from their area can get screwed?

[GDAWG 727]

Doesn't that stadium host a college football all star game?  The East-West Shrine Bowl I think?

[SFGiants58 7,720]

1 minute ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

 

Yes.  I was opposed to the awarding of a team to Miami in the first place on the grounds that Florida is for spring training.

 

You’re not alone on the first point. I would have wanted a Colorado-Washington expansion for 1993, with an Arizona-Portland/Charlotte move in 1998.

 

But “Florida is for spring training” is just narrow-minded.

 

1 minute ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

 

 

Baseball can indeed work there: spring training, Florida State League, Gulf Coast League.  But a Major League team?  No.

 

It hasn’t worked, but it could have worked in Miami (which is fairly far away from Spring Training land in Florida) given better ownership and no fire sales after winning championships. 

[~Bear 498]

Is there anyway the Rays could relocate before 2027? The news of splitting cities can't help attendance. People aren't going to show up any more than the abysmal numbers they are now if they think the team's in lame-duck mode. 

[AustinFomBoston 150]

1 hour ago, pmoehrin said:

The Rays can talk to Montreal all they want, but the city of St. Pete has already announced any potential move like this violates their lease agreement.

 

I doubt the Rays are going anywhere until at least 2027.

I don't understand why the city is so intent on keeping a team that they don't want, fans clearly don't want, and doesn't make any money. 

[DEAD! 700]

Mont-Ray-Al !!!!

[buzzcut 222]

1. Contract both the Rays and Marlins.

2. Expand rosters to 30 to insure no roster spots are lost.

3. No expansion ever again.

[Gothamite 15,525]

3 hours ago, SFGiants58 said:

 

Would you be saying that if the Marlins had competent ownership and didn’t perform the first fire sale?

 

For all the bitching about the first file sale, they went back to and won a second World Series.  Hard to feel too sorry for them.