St. Petersburg Mayor Bill Foster on Thursday "issued his most pessimistic declaration yet" on the future of the Rays in the city and the Pinellas peninsula, according to Jamal Thalji of the TAMPA BAY TIMES. Foster, who lost this month's election to Rick Kriseman, said, "I don't think there's anything in the equation that causes Major League Baseball to want to stay in Pinellas County." Foster added of the possibility of the team moving to Tampa, "I'm not convinced that Major League Baseball sees the Tampa Bay market as one that is sustainable for Major League Baseball." Kriseman last week "received a private briefing on the Rays' situation from the incumbent mayor and spent an hour chatting" with Rays Owner Stuart Sternberg. Foster: "I've said this publicly: Mr. Sternberg is up against 29 owners of Major League Baseball teams and a commissioner who do not believe that Major League Baseball is sustainable in Tampa Bay. That is a fact. ... Major League Baseball does not believe in Tampa Bay as a baseball region, I am convinced of that" (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 11/22).
