Now Warming Up…Spring Training MLB!

Let's start with the Opener.

***The Tampa Bay Rays are again without a deal for a new stadium in south St. Petersburg after the Rays owner, Stu Sternberg, announced last week that the team could not move forward to their pre-hurricane Helene and Milton deal.  It seems a few months of delays that the storms caused created a projected $100 shortfall for various reasons.  MLB surely wants a new ownership group and several have already emerged.  Tropicana Field has never been given any respect by MLB as it has never been awarded an MLB All-Star game, but the team deserves (and needs) a new stadium.  MLB parks have become a destination vacation for many MLB fans, and the region supports the team despite the attendance issues they have endured.  Nonetheless, the safe bet is for Tampa to build a new stadium and expect the team to move just a bit north in the next few years.  What do you think?

Now to the Set Up Man.

*** The Guardians of Cleveland just signed their young ace, Tanner Bibee, to a five-year extension through the 2030 season.  There will be talk during the next few seasons of installing a salary-cap in MLB.  Recent mega-contracts to superstars make smaller market teams seem insignificant.  However, the Bibee signing is exactly the strategy that smaller revenue teams must use to maximize their years with their younger players.  MLB should simply find a way for younger players to maximize their value with their original organizations before they hit free agency.  This could strike the balance between the “spenders” and the “receivers of revenue-sharing.”

Now the Closer.

*** I hope you enjoyed your 6:00 am MLB Opening Day in Japan this week.  Yawn!  The Dodgers took both games at the Toyko Dome to officially begin the 2025 season.  I have no problem with these games being played internationally, but Opening Day should remain here in the States and preferably in Cincinnati where we all know the baseball gods originally began every season. So, for most MLB fans, Opening Day is this week.  It is time to Play Ball!

 "Baseball is the only place where you can sit in a lawn chair and get the same view as a guy in a box seat."-Anonymous