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MLB Franchises in Motion…

By
Rice Cube
-
105

As we power toward the end of the 2026 season and to an offseason that might not happen due to lockout because nobody wants to budge on the CBA goalposts, there has been news within the past week on two franchises, with a third showing progress toward their new ballpark construction.

Let’s start with the fact that the Tampa Bay Rays got local government approval for some new ballpark funding. Per the reports, the city and county that houses Tampa proper will approve $876 million, while the Rays ownership will cover $1.37 billion and any construction cost overruns. The hope is to break ground at Hillsborough College’s Dale Mabry campus sometime in September, which is not just the stadium but also some mixed-use real estate development, plus improvements to the college they’re kind of displacing here, with an estimated completion date by Opening Day 2029.

We can then turn to Las Vegas, where the Athletics are moving as they continue to play in the minor league launchpad in Sacramento, and it seems the new ballpark is coming along nicely, with $600 million of the estimated $2 billion already spent, and the footprint of the ballpark taking shape, albeit with some disagreement over what will actually surround the ballpark because Bally’s doesn’t know what it wants, I guess. That first article says 2027, but this one says 2028 is the estimated opening date. Apparently the stadium design includes a big ass glass window, which makes little sense to me in the middle of a desert where, you know, it gets hot, and one wonders whether the fans inside will fry or if the air conditioning bill takes a massive hit because they would have to counteract the greenhouse effect by said big ass window, but architects know more than me.

Having the A’s installed in Vegas by 2028 and the Rays in a new home by 2029 suggests a timeline for expansion, which we talked about years ago while realizing it would take some time since we didn’t know yet whether those two teams would get their ballpark situations figured out. These two were the ones who were the priority for Rob Manfred to set up eventual expansion, and since we last really explored it, new municipalities have popped up to contend for a new MLB franchise, including Salt Lake City and Vancouver in Canada. But if the Rays break ground soon and the A’s are already chugging along, it could be that the likely two new franchises (to get MLB to 32 and even out the leagues and allow realignment) would be installed by the end of whatever CBA they cook up this time around, pending lockouts and crap.

Oh yeah, the Angels got sold to the guy who owns the LA Rams, who also broached the idea of building a new Angel Stadium since the old one is falling apart. That Forbes article suggests that the new record sale price for MLB is at $4.5 billion, so guessing MLBPA took notice of this. Similarly, earlier this year, the Royals reported their intentions to move out of Kauffman Stadium and build a new ballpark downtown, so that is certainly something to keep an eye on as money apparently continues to flow into and through MLB (and I’m sure out of our taxpayer funds) even as owners cry poor and demand a salary cap.

105 COMMENTS

  1. Somehow the Phillies and Dbacks haven’t scored yet, kind of hoping for Arizona to be useful today so the Cubs can make use of their tiebreaker should they also decide to beat the Brewers tonight

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  4. (dying laughing) if true

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  6. The wrigley organist has some masterful walkup song choices for the Brewers:
    Will You Be There for William Contreras
    Head Like a Hole for Jake Bauers (bow down before the one you serve)
    Facts of Life theme for Garrett Mitchell (IYKYK)

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  24. Abner Uribe could throw a perfect game the rest of the way if the Mike Pence had the courage to make him wear the Brats uniform

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  68. There’s a new Pablo Torre bit on the Dodgers after he did the bit about Kawhi Leonard

    I haven’t watched in full yet but gist seems to be that Dodgers finances are super shady

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  83. Nothing I love more than the scenario where the question is “How do we handle this” and the consensus answer is “We have no fucking idea.”

    (dying laughing)

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