A revised agreement between St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman and the Rays regarding the team's search for a new ballpark site "was sent on Friday to the City Council, but hopes are dimming a deal will be reached any time soon," according to Charlie Frago of the TAMPA BAY TIMES. A memo from Kriseman urging council members to support the proposal stated, "Failing to support this (memorandum of understanding) will almost certainly assure that the team will likely leave St. Petersburg and the region." Kriseman in the memo wrote he "remains hopeful that a majority of you will join me in showing confidence in our city." He said that rejecting the deal would mean the city "would have to wait 12 years to develop Tropicana Field's 85 acres and force the city to split 'tens of millions of dollars' with the Rays if the site was developed before the team's contract" for the ballpark expires in '27. Council Chair Charlie Gerdes said that he would "confer with the mayor" today and "decide whether to put the new proposal on the council's Thursday agenda." Frago noted the "hope is that at least two council members will respond to the only substantive change in the new agreement: Language that guarantees 100 percent of the development rights at the Tropicana site will flow to just the city anytime after the team announces it is leaving Tropicana Field for a site" in Pinellas or Hillsborough counties. The MOU "also specifies payments that would be due for every year that the team does not play at Tropicana Field." The payments start at $4M and "stair-step down" to $2M for '23-26. The new agreement "calls for the Rays to supply the city with a 'process and criteria' document within 60 days of council's approval of the deal" (
TAMPA BAY TIMES, 3/28).
