The roof of the Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, was destroyed during Hurricane Milton. Julio Cortez/Associated Press

The Tampa Bay Rays said it may take weeks to fully assess how much damage was done to Tropicana Field, which saw its roof ripped to shreds by the force of Hurricane Milton as the deadly storm barreled across much of Florida.

The team said no one was injured when the St. Petersburg ballpark was struck by the storm on Wednesday night. A handful of “essential personnel” were inside Tropicana Field as the roof panels were blown apart, much of the debris falling on the field and seats below.

“Over the coming days and weeks, we expect to be able to assess the true condition of Tropicana Field,” the Rays said Thursday. “In the meantime, we are working with law enforcement to secure the building. We ask for your patience at this time, and we encourage those who can to donate to organizations in our community that are assisting those directly impacted by these storms.”

Milton was the second hurricane to hit Florida’s Gulf Coast in the span of two weeks, preceded by Hurricane Helene, which flooded streets and homes on that same side of the state and left at least 230 people dead across the South.

The Rays aren’t scheduled to play in the ballpark again until March 27, when they are supposed to play host to the Colorado Rockies to open the 2025 season.

For as bad as the damage was, the situation at Tropicana Field could have been worse. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had said earlier in the week that there were plans for the ballpark to serve as a “temporary base camp” to support debris cleanup operations and temporarily house some first responders. But those plans were changed as the storm neared, amid concerns that the roof simply would not survive Milton’s wrath.

“They were relocated,” DeSantis said at a Thursday morning news conference. “Tropicana Field is a routine staging area for these things. The roof on that … I think it’s rated for 110 mph and so the forecast changes, but as it became clear that there was going to be something of that magnitude that was going to be within the distance, they redeployed them out of Tropicana. There were no state assets that were inside Tropicana Field.”

The team previously said that Tropicana Field features the world’s largest cable-supported domed roof, with the panels made of “translucent, Teflon-coated fiberglass” supported by 180 miles of cables connected by struts.

The roof was designed to withstand wind of up to 115 mph, according to the Rays. The stadium opened in 1990 at an initial cost $138 million and is due to be replaced in time for the 2028 season with a $1.3 billion ballpark.

QUALIFYING OFFERS: The price of a qualifying offer for this year’s major league free agents rose to $21.05 million from $20,325,000 last offseason, a $725,000 hike that represented a 3.6% increase.

The figure is determined by the average of the top 125 major league contracts this year. The price dropped by $100,000 to $17.8 million in 2019, then rose to $18.9 million in 2020, fell $500,000 in 2021 and rose to $19.65 million in 2022.

Qualifying offers began after the 2012 season, and only 13 of 131 offers have been accepted.

A free agent can be made a qualifying offer only if he has been with the same team continuously since opening day and has never received a qualifying offer before.

Among the top players who can become free agents after the World Series and are eligible to receive qualifying offers are New York Yankees outfielder Juan Soto, Baltimore right-hander Corbin Burnes, Atlanta left-hander Max Fried, New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso, Houston third baseman Alex Bregman, Orioles outfielder Anthony Santander and Milwaukee shortstop Willy Adames.

TWINS: After 40 years of owning the Minnesota Twins, the Pohlad family said it plans to sell the team.

The Twins have had great triumphs on the family’s watch. With Kirby Puckett leading the way, Minnesota won World Series titles in 1987 and 1991. Since the turn of the century, the Twins have won the American League Central Division title nine times and claimed a wild card spot once.

There also have been frustrations – the Twins finally broke an 18-game postseason losing streak last year.

“For the past 40 seasons, the Minnesota Twins have been part of our family’s heart and soul,” Twins Executive Chair Joe Pohlad, a third-generation owner, said in a statement. “This team is woven into the fabric of our lives, and the Twins community has become an extension of our family. The staff, the players, and most importantly, you, the fans – everyone who makes up this unbelievable organization – is part of that. We’ve never taken lightly the privilege of being stewards of this franchise.

“However, after months of thoughtful consideration, our family reached a decision this summer to explore selling the Twins. As we enter the next phase of this process, the time is right to make this decision public.”

The Twins have been competitive in recent years – they went 87-75 and made the playoffs in 2023 and won a playoff series for the first time since 2002. The manager, Rocco Baldelli, has led the team to three division titles in six years.