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Wherever the Tampa Bay Rays are playing in 2029, it won’t be … here.
Plus: One drama squashed, one prank accomplished for the Red Sox, an update on Altuve’s left-field experiment, and Ken on the Tigers’ dueling aces. I’m Levi Weaver, here with Ken Rosenthal. Welcome to The Windup!
Welp: Rays stadium deal is dead
As of yesterday, the Rays officially backed out of a $1.3 billion stadium deal in St. Petersburg. It would have been a shocking development if this news had come out last September, when everything seemed to be green lights and thumbs up.
But after the October hurricane that ripped the roof of Tropicana Field, that all changed. Yesterday’s announcement wasn’t a major surprise to anyone who has been keeping up with the story over the last few months.
We’ve covered this saga in The Windup recently, so rather than rehash all the plot twists that got us here, we’ll just link to Sam Blum’s story, but the big question is: What happens now?
- They could stay in a renovated Tropicana Field — but that doesn’t solve the attendance issues or the fact that it’s a little inconvenient to get to Tampa at game time.
- They could build a whole different stadium — but do we think Pinellas County is going to help with that now?
- They could move — but MLB says they strongly prefer the team to stay in the area (partially, one must assume, because moving to another city would remove that city from the list of potential expansion locations).
The funniest option, by far, would be to move to Oakland and make the R and Y in their logo very, very small.
Ken’s Notebook: Skubal, Flaherty continue to push each other
From my latest story:
LAKELAND, Fla. — On days he does not pitch, Tarik Skubal offers a special greeting to the Detroit Tigers’ starting pitcher.
“Happy Start Day!” the reigning American League Cy Young award winner will say, even if the starter is an opener.
Nice gesture, right? Cool little bonding moment? For most pitchers, sure. But not for everyone, as Skubal learned last season before Jack Flaherty’s Tigers debut.
“He looked me right in the face and didn’t say a word back to me,” Skubal said. “I go, ‘All right, I got it. I’ll stay out of your way.’”
Skubal said Flaherty is “the guy everyone talks about, (wearing) headphones, will not respond.” Flaherty confirmed as much, saying Skubal is much more approachable on his start days.
Pregame demeanors aside, Skubal and Flaherty are more similar than different, starting with their difficult, injury-marred paths to success. They grew close during the first half of last season, pushing each other, learning from each other. Skubal was intensely disappointed when the Tigers traded Flaherty to the Los Angeles Dodgers at the deadline — and quite excited when Flaherty returned to the Tigers last month on a two-year, $35 million free-agent contract, with an opt-out after one year.
“I just didn’t think we were in the market for starting pitching, to be honest,” Skubal said. “But whatever. I’m happy he’s on our team.”
The pairing of the left-handed Skubal, 28, and right-handed Flaherty, 29, demonstrates how one veteran can help another, providing intangible value even to a team with low expectations, the kind of team Detroit was at the start of last season. Their reunion comes with the Tigers in a much different place, coming off a shocking run that resulted in their first postseason appearance since 2014.
With Skubal and Flaherty reunited at the top of a rotation that will also include Reese Olson and possibly top prospect Jackson Jobe and comeback candidate Casey Mize, the Tigers’ collection of starters could evolve into one of the game’s most dominant.
“They both are obsessed with preparation. They both are obsessed with routines. They both are obsessed with trying to find ways to get better,” Tigers manager AJ Hinch said of Skubal and Flaherty. “From the very beginning last year, they were attached.”
More Tigers: 2025 fan survey results: Optimism is on the rise (but parking is still too expensive).
Shenanigans: Boston: Drink coffee, eat your words
This is the structure of every spring training: The first third is exciting and new. The final third is interesting and tense. And the middle third is dumb and boring.
But sometimes that dumb and boring can lead to dumb and silly, which is what happened in Red Sox camp, as top prospects Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer had to fill 76 individual coffee orders at once from Starbucks. This is how you do the middle third, gentlemen. Get creative.
(“Mayer didn’t think to use his Starbucks app,” notes Jen McCaffrey in our story. Brutal.)
But there was also some real news out of Fort Myers. The biggest drama of the spring seems to have fizzled, as Rafael Devers has reversed course, saying he’ll play DH or anywhere else the team asks him to play.
You might recall: That’s not how the conversation started. Devers was insistent that he was a third baseman, despite the team signing the reigning AL Gold Glove third baseman Alex Bregman.
It has seemed that this would be the case for a while — Devers still hasn’t appeared in a game for the Red Sox as he recovers from last year’s shoulder issues, while Bregman has been playing games at third base. But based on Devers’ quotes, it sounds like manager Alex Cora and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow have let him know how things are going to shake out.
“We spoke already, and I’m good to do whatever they want me to do,” said Devers through translator Daveson Perez. “I’m here to help. I’ve already spoken with them about that, and they know where I stand. I’m just ready to play.”
Rich Storry / Getty Images
Learning Curves: Altuve’s left-field experiment
This all started (we thought) as a way to accommodate the Astros bringing back Alex Bregman, even after acquiring Isaac Paredes. One of those two could move from third to second base, since Jose Altuve had volunteered to give left field a go.
But even after Bregman signed with the Red Sox, Altuve has been putting in a lot of time in the outfield, trying to get his defense up to snuff.
It might still be a reasonable decision for the good of the team. Altuve’s defense — which was never a major strong suit anyway — had declined over the last three years. In the six years from 2015-2021, Altuve averaged -1 Defensive Runs Saved per year. In the three years since, he has averaged -13.67 DRS per year. Yikes.
The problem is, it may be a tall order — pun noted but unintentional — for a player of Altuve’s age (34) and height (5-foot-6) to move to the outfield. There’s a reason outfielders tend to be tall, something that was highlighted yesterday when Altuve made his first real mistake at the position: mistiming a jump (and subsequently missing the ball altogether).
One factor: Left field is smaller in Houston than most parks. The Crawford Boxes sit just 315 feet from home plate, which might help hide some range and arm issues, especially if Jake Meyers is Altuve’s center-field neighbor.
But y’know … the Astros only play half their games at home. If he’s going to be a full-time outfielder, there’s some learning left to be done.
Chandler Rome has the latest on the experiment (which nobody has fully committed to just yet).
Handshakes and High Fives
(Top photo: Joe Raedle / Getty Images)
