The Big Lead

Multiple groups bidding to purchase homeless MLB franchise: Reports

As the team plays out the 2025 season in its temporary dwelling, multiple groups are lining up bids of nearly $2 billion.

By J.P. Hoornstra

The tarp is seen on the field before a game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Texas Rangers at George M. Steinbrenner Field on June 3.
The tarp is seen on the field before a game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Texas Rangers at George M. Steinbrenner Field on June 3. / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
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The Tampa Bay Rays were rendered homeless when Hurricane Miltontore the roof off Tropicana Field, their home stadium since their inaugural 1998 season.

What began as a natural disaster threatened to uproot the Rays from the only market they have ever called home, and hand the team over to a new owner for the first time since Stuart Sternberg bought the club in 2004.

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Sternberg said in February that he wasn't in talks to sell the franchise, even though his plans for a new ballpark in downtown St. Petersburg ultimately fell through the political cracks.

That changed in the meantime. The Rays announced Wednesday they're discussing a potential sale of the franchise with a local group led by Patrick Zalupski.

“The Tampa Bay Rays announced that the team has recently commenced exclusive discussions with a group led by Patrick Zalupski, Bill Cosgrove, Ken Babby and prominent Tampa Bay investors concerning a possible sale of the team," the team statement read. "Neither the Rays nor the group will have further comment during the discussions.”

Sportico first reported the discussions, including the Zalupski group's valuation of the team at $1.7 billion. Although the discussions are new, Zalupski's interest in the Rays is not, according to former major league catcher A.J. Pierzynski.

"I know they've had discussions with the city of Tampa about plots of land in different places," Pierzynski said Wednesday on Foul Territory.

Meanwhile, Colleen Wright of the Tampa Bay Times reported that a group led by a Memphis hedge fund founder made a cash offer to buy the team earlier this month.

According to Wright, investor Trip Miller "said if he were to win the bid, all options are on the table as far as location, but his preference would be to keep it in the Tampa Bay area." He's prepared to outbid the Zalupski group, per the report.

While the Rays play out the 2025 season at George M. Steinbrenner Field, the former home of the Yankees' Single-A affiliate, their future address remains anything but certain.

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