Recently, it was learned that the Tampa Bay Rays would spend their 2025 season playing at George M. Steinbrenner Field, spring training home of the New York Yankees.

This is a result of the severe damage caused to Tropicana Field by Hurricane Milton in mid-October. “The Trop” won’t be playable in 2025 and we wonder if the Rays will ever play again.

While it’s nice for the Rays to be able to stay in the Tampa area, there are also several problems with this plan. Florida’s summer heat and rain is now a major problem for the team, and the league shuffled the schedule Monday to help get around that problem.

According to ours Sam Connon Monday:

Instead of facing the Los Angeles Angels on the road April 7-9, the Rays will host this series between April 8-10. In return, the Rays will travel to Anaheim from August 4-6, rather than playing the home series originally scheduled for August 5-7.

The Rays also added an extra home series against the Minnesota Twins from May 26-28, rather than playing at Target Field this weekend. Tampa Bay will now travel to Minnesota from July 4-6.

As a result of the shakeup, the Rays are scheduled to play 19 of their first 22 games and 47 of their first 59 games in their temporary home. Only 16 of their 51 games between July and August will be played at Steinbrenner Field.

It’s also worth noting that the Rays will play 69 of their final 103 games on the road. While this certainly helps alleviate weather-related challenges, it appears to be a huge disadvantage for the Rays as a whole. While they could definitely use the busy early home schedule to their advantage and get off to a good start, it will be extremely difficult to be on the road as much as they have been for the past three months.

Additionally, as the team attempts to sell free agents upon arrival to Tampa Bay, this must serve as a major deterrent. For players with families, it must be difficult to convince that the guys will barely be home for three months.

THE Rays have a good team and should be ready to compete in 2025, but this news absolutely puts them behind the eight.

The Rays went 80-82 last season and finished fourth in the American League East.

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