Lots of Ballpark Planning in Play as St. Petersburg Plots to Keep the Tampa Bay Rays

"With plans for an Ybor City ballpark trashed by Major League Baseball and buried by the team, any hope for building a local home for the Tampa Bay Rays now appears focused on St. Petersburg," report Charlie Frago and Josh Solomon.

Meanwhile the city of Portland in Oregon is also working up plans for a waterfront ballpark to lure the team westward. Other cities, Montreal, Las Vegas, Charlotte, San Antonio and Nashville, are also considered in the running to land the team, according to the article.

The city of St. Petersburg is already plotting what to do next with the current home of the Tampa Bay Rays, which sits on prime redevelopment land. That Tropicana Field property is a key bargaining chip in the city of St. Petersburg's moves to keep the team in the city. If and when the team's three-year window to look at other stadium locations expires at the end of the year, the team will likely be locked into its lease of Tropicana Field until 2027.