NEW YORK —– The Ex-Rays?
Starved for fans despite success on the field, the Tampa Bay Rays have been given the go-ahead by Major League Baseball to look into playing a split season in Montreal.
No timetable for the possible plan was announced. An idea under consideration is for the Rays to play early in the season in Tampa Bay and later in Montreal.
Commissioner Rob Manfred made the announcement Thursday at the end of the owners’ meetings, saying the executive council had granted the Rays “broad permission to explore what’s available.”
Manfred said it’s too soon to detail the particulars – as in, where the team would play postseason games, or in what stadiums. He did not address whether this would be a step toward a full move.
Still, that was enough to spark excitement in Canada, where the Montreal Expos played from 1969-2004 before moving to Washington and becoming the Nationals.
“I was fortunate enough to have played there when it was in its halcyon days,” said Steve Rogers, a five-time All-Star pitcher for the Expos from 1973-85.
“It was a destination spot. I have no doubt that the city of Montreal would go over the top now to embrace a major league team. I do believe that.”
Rays principal owner Stu Sternberg, in a statement, said: “My priority remains the same, I am committed to keeping baseball in Tampa Bay for generations to come.
“I believe this concept is worthy of serious exploration.”
Forget it, St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman said. Tropicana Field is located in his city.
“I want to be crystal clear. The Rays cannot explore playing any Major League Baseball games in Montreal, or anywhere else for that matter, prior to 2028 without reaching a formal memorandum of understanding with the city of St. Petersburg,” he said.
“And ultimately such a decision is up to me, and I have no intention of bringing this idea to our city council to consider. In fact, I believe this is getting a bit silly,” he said.
The Expos then, like the Rays now, operated with a small payroll, often losing stars to big-market clubs, such as Pedro Martinez and David Price. And low attendance plagued both franchises.
Tampa Bay is averaging 14,546 fans per home game, ahead of only the Miami Marlins. The Rays have played at Tropicana Field since their inception in 1998 and drew their lowest home crowd of 5,786 against Toronto last month.
The Rays had looked into building a new stadium for years but in December abandoned a plan to build across the bay in Tampa’s Ybor City area. They are committed to play in the Tampa Bay area through 2027.
In their last two seasons before moving, the Expos played 22 games per year at San Juan, Puerto Rico.
MLB has played exhibition games in Montreal in recent years involving the Toronto Blue Jays and has drawn well for those. MLB has loosely talked over the years about expansion into Montreal, but Manfred repeatedly has said expansion will not be considered until the Rays and Oakland Athletics get new ballparks.
RANGERS: Veteran left-hander Drew Smyly was designated for assignment after losing his spot in the rotation and allowing three consecutive home runs in his last relief appearance.
The Rangers also optioned left-hander Joe Palumbo to Triple-A Nashville. Texas brought up a pair of lefties, Kyle Bird and Locke St. John,.
NATIONALS: The Washington Nationals will extend their protective netting during the All-Star break after recent injuries in baseball increased the focus on fan safety.
Nationals managing principal owner Mark Lerner says the club will replace the current protection with more transparent netting and extend it to just short of the foul poles in the left and right-field corners.
METS: The New York Mets fired pitching coach Dave Eiland and bullpen coach Chuck Hernandez and named Phil Regan interim pitching coach, Ricky Bones interim bullpen coach and Jeremy Accardo pitching strategist.
Regan, 82, has been the Mets’ minor league assistant pitching coordinator since 2016 after spending 2009-15 as the pitching coach for St. Lucie of the Florida State League. The former pitcher managed the Baltimore Orioles during the 1995 season.
ROCKIES: Shortstop Trevor Story was placed on the 10-day injured list with a sprained right thumb.
The Rockies called up infielder Brendan Rodgers from Triple-A Albuquerque.
YANKEES: Aaron Judge is expected to be activated from the injured list Friday night to play against Houston, his first game since straining his left oblique on a swing April 20.
The 27-year-old right fielder was batting .288 with five home runs and 11 RBI when he got hurt.
THURSDAY’S GAMES
AMERICAN LEAGUE
RANGERS 4, INDIANS 2: Elvis Andrus homered and had an RBI triple to back another impressive home start by Mike Minor as Texas earned a series split with Cleveland.
Minor (7-4) limited the Indians to three hits and one run over eight innings after they had scored 10 runs each of the last two nights. The lefty struck out four and walked three while throwing 70 of 110 pitches for strikes.
Danny Santana went deep in the Rangers’ eighth, his third homer in the four-game series and seventh overall. Andrus immediately followed with his seventh homer, his first since May 12 at Houston.
Minor has a 2.03 ERA in eight home starts, allowing no runs in four of those.
ROYALS 4, TWINS 1: Alex Gordon had a two-run single and Lucas Duda added an RBI single as Kansas City jumped on Jake Odorizzi in the first inning to win at home.
Glenn Sparkman (2-3) gave up just one run and five hits in a season high-tying seven innings. He walked one and struck out three. Duda, had two hits and scored a run to help the Royals win for the fourth time in five games.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
ROCKIES 6, DIAMONDBACKS 3: Chris Iannetta’s two-run, bases-loaded single in the 10th inning lifted Colorado to a win at Phoenix.
Iannetta, a former Diamondbacks catcher, singled off the center-field wall against Yoshihisa Hirano (3-4) with one out to drive in Ian Desmond and Brendan Rodgers.
NATIONALS 7, PHILLIES 4: Anthony Rendon and Victor Robles homered in a four-run sixth inning, and host Washington beat Philadelphia.
Rendon led off the sixth with a tie-breaking drive against Nick Pivetta (4-2), and Robles made it 7-3 with a three-run shot off Edubray Ramos.
REDS 7, BREWERS 1: Jose Iglesias homered and drove in four runs, Tanner Roark allowed one run – a homer by major league leader Christian Yelich – over six solid innings and visiting Cincinnati won its fifth straight.
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