Commissioner Manfred discusses Rays' ballpark situation, expansion timeline and more

NEW YORK -- The Rays will be playing their home games at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Fla., during the 2025 season. That much we know.

And while the damage caused to Tropicana Field last month by Hurricane Milton has left the club’s future in St. Petersburg in doubt both in the short- and long-term, Commissioner Rob Manfred believes it’s too early to make any declarations about Tampa Bay’s ballpark situation.

“There's a lot of uncertainty with respect to the situation in Tampa; much of that uncertainty, we just don't control,” Manfred said Wednesday at the league’s owners meetings. “We need to let the government officials in Tampa Bay sort out where they are on a variety of issues. I understand the delay given the kind of damage that they suffered down there. We're just going to have to wait for some of that uncertainty to resolve itself.”

Following the hurricane that tore much of the roof off of the Trop, the Pinellas County Commission voted to postpone an October vote that would issue bonds to pay for the county’s part of the new stadium financing: $312.5 million, coming from tourist tax revenue. Thought to be a procedural formality, the vote was delayed while the county dealt with the fallout from Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

That vote was delayed until Tuesday. In the interim, the results of the Nov. 5 elections changed the composition of the county commission that voted in favor of the ballpark agreement, 5-2, only four months ago.

A few hours before county commissioners voted 6-1 on Tuesday to delay the vote again until Dec. 17, Rays presidents Matt Silverman and Brian Auld sent them a letter saying the initial postponement already made it highly unlikely they could have the new ballpark ready for 2028, if ever.

While there is no firm deadline for the Rays’ long-term stadium situation to be resolved, Manfred suggested that something might need to be put into place before the 2026 season.

“It's one thing to make an interim arrangement for 2025, which we've done,” Manfred said. “When you get into another year, there's obviously going to be another interim arrangement unless they get the Trop fixed. I think that second year of an interim arrangement, you need a plan as to how you're going to get into a permanent facility.”

As for any potential relocation talk, Manfred said, “We're committed to the fans in Tampa Bay. I think given all that that's happened in that market, we're focused on our franchise in Tampa Bay right now.”

Expansion timeline?

Manfred has maintained for several years that no decisions on a potential MLB expansion would take place until the stadium situations with the Rays and Athletics are resolved.

The Rays’ situation remains in flux as outlined above, but Manfred reiterated that the Athletics’ move to Las Vegas in 2028 is “one hundred percent full steam ahead.”

“I understand there seems to be some sense of doubt that persists out there, but [Athletics owner] John Fisher is completely committed to the process,” Manfred said. “The building has been demolished, the site is available; they are on track for a 2028 opening. They’ve gone through the process of demonstrating that whether or not he takes local partners, he has the capacity to build the stadium. We're full speed ahead.

“I'm hopeful that we'll be able to work through the situation in Tampa Bay in a way that keeps me on the timetable that I've articulated, which is to have an expansion decision made before I leave in four years.”

Testing ground for ABS

The automated ball-strike (ABS) challenge system is coming to a Spring Training ballpark near you in 2025.

Manfred reiterated that the ABS challenge system will be utilized in a number of ballparks during the upcoming spring, setting up a possible debut in big league games as soon as 2026.

“I think we will have a Spring Training ABS test that will provide a meaningful opportunity for all Major League players to see what the challenge system will look like,” Manfred said. “It won't be in every single ballpark, but we actually have a plan where every team will get meaningful exposure to that.”

Manfred said he “would be interested” in having the ABS challenge system in place for the 2026 regular season, but he acknowledged that the spring testing will play a considerable role in whether that can happen. There will also be issues to work out with the MLB Umpires Association before the system can be implemented.

“It depends on how the test goes,” Manfred said. “From my perspective, there's two sides to that test; it’s what do clubs think about it, and what do the players think about it? We’re going to have to sort through both of those.”

Senior reporter Adam Berry contributed to this report.