Outside The Confines: No baseball at Tropicana until 2026

The damage report for the Rays’ stadium is back, and it’s grim.

One of the biggest stories of the offseason isn’t where Juan Soto will sign or which team will land Roki Sasaki, it’s the devastation of Tropicana Field, and whether the Rays would be able to play at home in 2025.

The answer is finally known, and in short: No. The Rays won’t be able to play at their home stadium, Tropicana Field, until at least 2026. The damage assessment report was released this week, and it’s more than 400 pages long. The highlights are that the damage to the stadium is valued at $39 million, with a whopping $23.6 million of that is specific to the roof.

With those costs in mind — which the city of St. Petersburg would be responsible for as the landlord of the stadium — and the fact that the Rays will be moving into a new stadium in 2028 regardless, it remains to be seen if the city and the team will see the value in a rebuild. The city does have an insurance policy on the stadium, but it comes with a $22 million deductible, and would only cover part of the damage.

Needless to say, the biggest part of this in the immediate future is that the Rays will need to find themselves a new temporary home for 2025, and Rob Manfred wants them to stay local. They have been tasked with finding something by Christmas.

More on the stadium rebuild:

• Karl Rasmussen gives us an overview of the assessment.
• Our sister site DRaysBay offers some insight into the timeline. Story by Danny Russell.
• Marc Topkin and Colleen Wright break down the dollars and cents.

Now on to the rest of today’s links:

• Jay Jaffe is breaking down the candidacy case for all the Eras Ballot candidates, among them the cases for Ken Boyer and Dick Allen.
• I’ve got money on Skenes here (not really).

• Brian Kaplan will be joining the Phillies bench as their new pitching coach. (AP)
• Travis d’Arnaud has signed a two-year deal with the Angels. Story by Rhett Bollinger and Paul Casella.
• Could Nathan Eovaldi be on the Red Sox radar this offseason? Mike Kadlick has a look at the offseason rumor mill.
• Jeff Passan does his best to predict the offseason.
• Manny Randhawa shares the finalists for all the major awards.
• Eric Longenhagen has the international scouting report, including Roki Sasaki.
• Who is Roki Sasaki? Glad you asked, because Daniel Brim has a full article explaining everything you need to know about the Japanese pitcher.
• Mark Feinsand suggests the seven teams that are the best fit for Pete Alonso.
• The Phillies are putting Alec Bohm on the trade block. Story by Karl Rasmussen.
• Andy McCullough spotlights super agent Scott Boras and how he’s impacting the offseason. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Speaking of Mark Feinsand, he did a Reddit AMA (ask me anything) and gave some interesting answers.
• Freddie Freeman chatted with the NFL’s favorite brothers Travis and Jason Kelce, and explained what his backup plan was if baseball didn’t work out. Story by Madison Williams.
• Could there be a new contender in the Juan Soto sweepstakes? (MLB)
• An update on broadcasting rights.

• Steven J. Nesbitt and Cody Stavenhagen look at 9 potential landing spots for Juan Soto. (The Athletic subscription required)
• Things are getting worse for Wander Franco as he’s facing weapons charges in the Dominican after an altercation. Story by Juan Recio.

• Kiri Oler is already ready to go back to October with a postseason retrospective.
• Jim Bowden looks at 15 players who could be traded this offseason. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• The 2026 World Baseball Classic qualifiers have been announced. Story by Michael Clair.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. Make it so.