ESPN’s Howard Bryant is reporting that Bud Selig has instructed Rays management “not to make significant financial investments in the area until attendance indicators improve, suggesting the team could be investing in potential relocation sites.” I’m assuming that means stadium improvements and the like.
I’d normally say something critical here, but it’s probably smart for Selig to say such a thing. I don’t think there’s enough polish in the world to make Tropicana Field an enjoyable environment for baseball, and to the extent the Rays actually throw money at attempting to do so, it’s likely wasted money. And the Rays don’t have a ton of money to waste.
And I don’t have a problem with them relocating either. It’s a business. If they can’t make the business work where they are, they should be able to move it. Indeed, I wish there was more freedom of movement for baseball teams. If there was maybe we’d have another team in New Jersey or New England or Southern California, which would level the playing field a bit and force dumb businesspeople out of the baseball ownership game.
Ultimately, my beef is with using tax dollars for ballparks. Stay away from that sort of thing and anything else you do is pretty much your business.