TAMPA, FL – Tampa Bay Rays Manager Kevin Cash watches the action on the field during the regular season game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Tampa Bay Rays on June 17, 2025 at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
A major sign of progress on the extensive repair work at Tropicana Field came a little earlier than expected. A new roof atop the Trop that was slated to be completed in December had the last of 24 panels installed a week before Thanksgiving.
“This project was a massive undertaking, but we have an outstanding team working on it and making sure we’re prepared for opening day,” St. Petersburg mayor said in a statement published on the city’s web site. “We look forward to completing the remaining repairs and welcoming fans back for the 2026 season.”
Much of the interior work, including seating areas and suites as well as the installation of a new playing surface scheduled for January, is expected to be completed prior to the home opener against the Cubs on April 6.
Given the Rays did not play the 2025 season inside the Hurricane Milton-damaged stadium, and having shifted operations across the bay to Tampa’s Steinbrenner Field, the lease with the city was extended one season through 2028. A new ownership group, headed by Jacksonville-based developer Patrick Zalupski, took over in October and is aiming to have a new home for the team by the 2029 opener.
For now, the Rays have been busy working on bringing fans back to the Trop, including announcing single-game ticket information earlier this month. Prices for more than two-thirds of the seats were reduced by 15% when compared to 2024, and $10 tickets will be available for all games.
“We are excited to return home to Tropicana Field in April and to once again join our fans and neighboring businesses in downtown St. Petersburg in celebrating the return of Rays baseball,” said CEO Ken Babby, in a statement issued by the team.
Roster movement
The Rays have kept the transaction wire humming this month with an assortment of deals, though nothing that rattled the landscape. It was no surprise they exercised club options on second baseman Brandon Lowe ($11.5 million) and shortstop Taylor Walls ($2.45 million) while declining that of closer Pete Fairbanks, who would have been due $11 million.
The 31-year-old Lowe reached the 30-homer plateau (31) for the second time in his career and led MLB second basemen with 83 RBI. The Rays also picked up the option on the longest-tenured member of the team last year ($10.5 million) after the six-year, $24 million extension Lowe signed ahead of the 2019 season expired. He debuted with the club in 2018.
The 29-year-old Walls, who can also play second and third, is a magician with the glove, which is no small detail given how the organization has long placed a premium on pitching and defense. Walls, who had a 2027 team option tacked on at $3.1 million, hit .220 with 14 stolen bases before missing most of the season’s final two months with a groin strain the resulted in surgery. That allowed top prospect Carson Williams to get his feet wet in the big leagues. If nothing else, keeping Walls around serves as insurance should the club decide Williams is not ready for full-time duty.
In declining Fairbanks’ option and allowing the righthander to hit the market, the Rays got nothing in return. What they did was allow for some roster flexibility – for a starting pitcher, outfield power? — with a 2026 payroll likely to be in line with the roughly $80ish million it was last season. The bullpen certainly has options when it comes to closers in righthanders Griffin Jax, who was acquired from Minnesota at last season’s trade deadline, and Edwin Uceta as well as lefty Garrett Cleavinger.
Otherwise, it has been a case of rostering tinkering. Christopher Morel, who hit .208 with a .632 OPS in a Tampa Bay uniform after he was acquired from the Cubs at the 2024 trade deadline, was among those designated for assignment.
Opening Day hero Kameron Misner, who walked off the visiting Rockies with a home run that lifted the curtain on Tampa Bay’s season at Steinbrenner Field, was traded to Colorado for a player to be named.
Utility infielder Tristan Gray was dealt to the Red Sox for righthanded pitcher Luis Guerrero, who had a 2.63 ERA in 22 relief appearances with the Red Sox the past two years. Eric Orze, who answered the bell out of the Rays’ bullpen before he was optioned to Triple-A Durham at midseason, was traded to the Twins for a minor league pitcher.
Righthanded pitcher Adrian Houser, who appeared as though he might have a future with the Rays in performing better than his line (2-3, 4.79 ERA) after being acquired from the White Sox at the trade deadline, opted for free agency. He could still be in the mix.
Many of the moves the Rays made earlier this month were to accommodate the reinstatement of those coming off the 60-day IL, including starting pitcher Shane McClanahan, relievers Manuel Rodriguez and Hunter Bigge and outfielder Jonny DeLuca.