TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Rays might not want to leave.
After Hurricane Milton ravaged Tropicana Field in October, the Rays and the New York Yankees struck a deal that would allow Tampa Bay to play its 2025 regular-season home games at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
Since then, there’s been lots of speculation about how that would actually work. Was it asking too much to host major-league games in a minor-league park? Would it be too hot in the summer? Would there be enough room for everything?
Thursday, the Yankees unveiled updates to Steinbrenner Field that should at least make things a little cozier for manager Kevin Cash’s team.
The team overhauled its player and staff facilities and expanded the stadium’s concourse for fans over the last two years, according to a press release from the Yankees.
Matt Ferry, the Yankees’ director of baseball operations, said much of the remodeling was done after speaking with players such as right fielder Aaron Judge, starting pitcher Gerrit Cole and others. The Yankees moved their base operations from Fort Lauderdale to Tampa in 1996.
“We’ve been here for a long time,” Ferry said. “How to maintain a facility that’s getting older but keep it as modern as possible? I think we checked off a lot of those objectives.”
Cole raved about the facilities.
“Everything’s new,” he said. “The space is great. There’s tons of natural light. High ceilings. Good privacy. I think the flow is great … from the training room to the locker room, having those be right there alongside with the outside warm-up place.
“It feels good to have a really nice facility, and new players will come in or the word will get out and the Rays will enjoy this, I’ll tell you that.”
Major updates include:
- A made-to-order kitchen with a full staff
- A two-story weight room with outdoor training space
- A players lounge with games, TVs and couches
- Hydrotherapy, red light therapy and saunas
- A new team meeting space with a big screen projector
- A barbershop
- New showers and bathrooms
See photos and videos of the upgrades below:
Clubhouse
A look around the Yankees clubhouse pic.twitter.com/wKmB3qIOlc
— Chris Kirschner (@ChrisKirschner) February 13, 2025
Here’s the barbershop the Yankees have in their clubhouse pic.twitter.com/Ez9SPgkgeV
— Chris Kirschner (@ChrisKirschner) February 13, 2025
Players lounge
Here’s the Yankees’ player lounge, which includes a couple of arcade games and a ping pong table. pic.twitter.com/9SzeU9uiJA
— Chris Kirschner (@ChrisKirschner) February 13, 2025
Here’s where the Yankees eat and what we’re eating in a few minutes pic.twitter.com/aiyoOvOJjB
— Chris Kirschner (@ChrisKirschner) February 13, 2025
A look at the Yankees’ new spring training food room pic.twitter.com/qEFlFZR44i
— Brendan Kuty 🧟♂️ (@BrendanKutyNJ) February 13, 2025
The protein the Yankees use 💪🏻 pic.twitter.com/jk0gZY6k2w
— Brendan Kuty 🧟♂️ (@BrendanKutyNJ) February 13, 2025
Batting cages, meeting room
Yankees’ new spring training batting cages pic.twitter.com/galSDa5gvz
— Brendan Kuty 🧟♂️ (@BrendanKutyNJ) February 13, 2025
Here is where the Yankees take batting practice indoors pic.twitter.com/uFXJkEGifh
— Chris Kirschner (@ChrisKirschner) February 13, 2025
Here’s where the Yankees meet as a team. pic.twitter.com/zkDD20OSrO
— Chris Kirschner (@ChrisKirschner) February 13, 2025
Weight room
Here’s the Yankees’ weight room pic.twitter.com/QgkHiPDtrk
— Chris Kirschner (@ChrisKirschner) February 13, 2025
Yankees’ new spring training weight room, which the Rays will use during the regular season pic.twitter.com/kxTcwWGDDE
— Brendan Kuty 🧟♂️ (@BrendanKutyNJ) February 13, 2025
Here are the dumbbells Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton use pic.twitter.com/EEbYbuQ7hp
— Chris Kirschner (@ChrisKirschner) February 13, 2025
Here’s the Yankees’ sports medicine/training area pic.twitter.com/vuPoAetBC7
— Chris Kirschner (@ChrisKirschner) February 13, 2025
(Photo: Kirby Lee / Getty Images)
