Fastball

Here's How Much it Cost to Get Steinbrenner Field Ready For Tampa Bay Rays

According to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred on Tuesday, it cost $50 million to get the minor league ballpark into MLB compliance. That's on top of all the work the Yankees did to improve the facilities themselves.

Brady Farkas

Leo Deleon (left) of Tampa, Florida plays catch with his son Leo Deleon Jr. as they wait to get into New York Yankees spring training practice at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
Leo Deleon (left) of Tampa, Florida plays catch with his son Leo Deleon Jr. as they wait to get into New York Yankees spring training practice at George M. Steinbrenner Field. / Dave Nelson-Imagn Images
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According to a recent report in Sportico, it cost approximately $50 million to get Steinbrenner Field ready for the Tampa Bay Rays to play there in 2025.

Steinbrenner Field is usually the home of the Tampa Tarpons, the Single-A affiliate of the New York Yankees, but the Rays will play there this year because of damage done to Tropicana Field during Hurricane Milton back in October.

That $50 million is on top of the well-publicized improvements that the Yankees made to the complex themselves.

Per Commissioner Rob Manfred on Tuesday:

“The industry owes [Yankees principal owner] Hal Steinbrenner a real debt of gratitude, a ton of credit for the approach he took,” Manfred said. “He put literally 10s of millions of dollars into improving Steinbrenner Field. The first people who are going to get to use it for any period of time is the Rays. That support for the industry, that collegiality is really an important thing.”

The Rays are hoping to be back at Tropicana Field for 2026, but it's unclear if the park will ready at that time. The Tarpons will spend their season playing on a field adjacent to the complex.

Heading into 2025, the Rays figure to be strong contenders in the loaded American League East. They return ace pitcher Shane McClanahan, who missed all of 2024 while recovering from Tommy John surgery and they are also expected to get a full season out of Drew Rasmussen, who missed a large portion of last season with his own injury.

The Rays also can expect big contributions from former top prospect Junior Caminero and the newly-signed Ha-seong Kim, who is expected to be healthy by May.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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