Rays weighing options after Trop damage
ST. PETERSBURG — The first week since Hurricane Milton shredded the Tropicana Field roof on its wicked path of destruction through west central Florida has not provided much clarity on how severely the Rays will be impacted.
About the only thing that seems certain is that the team won’t be able to open the 2025 Major League Baseball season at home as planned on March 27.
Where the Rays play, how long they are displaced and what repairs beyond a new custom roof are needed to return to Tropicana Field — until the planned 2028 opening of their new stadium on an adjacent site — are among myriad things they don’t know, but hope to address in the coming weeks.
Access to the building has been extremely limited due to safety concerns, including the integrity of the struts that held the Teflon-coated fiberglass roof.
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There are indications of extensive damage elsewhere at the stadium. For example, some team offices on the fourth floor, which had drop ceilings under the overall roof, are now open to the elements.
Rays officials have refrained from any public comments since issuing a statement Oct. 10, the day after the storm hit, saying they expected “over the coming days and weeks†to “assess the true condition†of the stadium.
Guardians drop Cobb from playoffs roster
NEW YORK — Pitcher Alex Cobb was dropped from the Cleveland Guardians AL Championship Series roster after getting hurt in the opener and was replaced Tuesday by fellow right-hander Ben Lively, the team’s winningest pitcher during the regular season.
Cobb left Monday’s 5-2 loss to the New York Yankees after 2²/³ innings because of hip tightness and a back spasm. Cobb is ineligible to pitch for the remainder of the postseason.
Lively, a 32-year-old right-hander, was 13-10 with a 3.81 ERA in 29 starts. He last pitched Sept. 28 against Houston on the next-to-last day of the regular season.
Cobb dropped to 0-2 with a 7.94 ERA in the playoffs, making just his fifth start in a year limited by injuries. A 2023 All-Star, he had hip surgery on Oct. 31 and hadn’t yet returned to the mound when he was acquired by Cleveland from San Francisco at the July 30 trade deadline.
— Lee wire reports