MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred "continues to embrace and endorse the Rays' radical plan to split future seasons in Montreal, and says it is gaining momentum toward approval from the other owners," according to Marc Topkin of the TAMPA BAY TIMES. Manfred said, "I don't think this is a crazy idea. It is a really legitimate effort to try to preserve baseball in Florida for the benefit of the Rays fans. And I do think there is some momentum to it." On whether the other owners would go along, Manfred said, "The right arrangement could be approved on the ownership side and I think with some creativity it could be approved with the players." He added, "If it preserved baseball in Tampa Bay and quite frankly gave us another international market, I see that as kind of a two for one. It would be a good thing all the way around." The Rays recently met with Tampa Mayor Jane Castor to "discuss the plan," which includes building new open-air ballparks in both markets. The Rays and Montreal group leader Stephen Bronfman are "working on an aggressive timetable to get details worked out and in place" by the end of this year (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 2/16).
NOT SO FAST: Rays Principal Owner Stuart Sternberg said that Bronfman was "incorrect" in telling the French-language Montreal Journal that negotiations for him to buy a minority stake in the team were "underway and a sale could be completed in the next three-four months." Sternberg said, “It isn’t true. Eventually, at a point, I would expect and believe they could and would become minority partners. ... I need some representation up there. But there’s nothing happening in months. No way." The TIMES' Topkin noted Sternberg "expects to sell a minority interest in the team to his partners in Montreal" should the split-season plan come to fruition. But Sternberg said that "even that agreement wouldn’t be enough to proceed with selling part of the team, that he would wait until the Montreal stadium was actually being built." Bronfman in the article also said that the new Montreal ballpark "would be ready" for '24 despite the Rays being contracted to play at Tropicana Field through '27 (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 2/15).
