One baseball Hall of Famer is cooking up a Rays relocation plan

Money and geography have always been the Rays' biggest obstacles to success in the Tampa Bay/St. Petersburg area.

Now, baseball Hall of Famer Barry Larkin is getting behind the idea of a different Florida market as a possible destination for the franchise: Orlando.

Larkin has joined forces with the "Orlando Dreamers" group that has been pushing to bring an MLB team to Central Florida for a decade.

To be clear, Larkin isn't explicitly backing the idea that the Rays ought to move from the only city they've called home. Speaking Wednesday to a local television station, he said that while acquiring the Rays is "an option," his pitch is not to acquire or relocate the Rays.

Larkin's speech at a press conference Wednesday merely attached the MLB-to-Orlando gospel to a familiar name among baseball fans.

"I will work tirelessly, and I'm sure the team will work tirelessly to make this thing happen. It will be a great, great honor to see it come to fruition," Larkin said, per Fox 35 Orlando.

Wall Street Strategic Capital President Jim Schnorf, who partnered with late Orlando Magic co-founder Pat Williams as "Dreamers" a decade agod, said he's "already secured verbal commitments of nearly" $500 million from minority investors, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

Schnorf said Wednesday he "may have a majority owner ready to join the effort and commit half the money to build a privately funded domed stadium."

Schnorf said that the Dreamers are "seeking a 50-50 public-private split" on building the stadium on a 35.5-acre plot of land. The team would "fund half" of a proposed $1.7 billion stadium project while the other half would be "funded by Orange County’s Tourist Development Tax."

The gap between those ideas and reality might be significant. But in comparison to the state of the Rays' future in the Tampa Bay area, the Orlando plan looks salient.

Rays owner Stuart Sternberg said earlier this week he hasn't decided what he will do with respect to the team's new stadium project, whose funding sources have come under question ever since Hurricane Milton destroyed the roof of Tropicana Field, the Rays' home since their inaugural 1998 season.

St. Petersburg officials now believe Tropicana Field will be repaired in time for the 2026 season. After exchanging back-and-forth barbs in the local press, the Rays “support and expect” the stadium to now be ready by 2026, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

But the funding mechanism and the timetable for the Rays' ballpark project in the Historic Gas Plant District of St. Petersburg remains in limbo, leaving the team's long-term future in the region uncertain.

Pinellas County Commissioner Chris Latvala wrote on his Twitter/X account Thursday that "Its nice to have dreams but Rays arent leaving" Tampa Bay.

Its nice to have dreams but Rays arent leaving TB. 1/Orlando doesnt have the public $. 2/If Stu cant fund the deal his team signed he will be admitting someone will have to fully fund stadium for him. Not a good sales pitch to MLB/Owners https://t.co/jC3VNVua9q
— Chris Latvala (@ComChrisLatvala) January 30, 2025

" 1/Orlando doesnt have the public $. 2/If Stu cant fund the deal his team signed he will be admitting someone will have to fully fund stadium for him," Latvala wrote. "Not a good sales pitch to MLB/Owners."

The Orlando market is the 15th-largest Designated Market Area in the U.S., according to Nielsen. Tampa Bay/St. Petersburg ranks 11th. But the Rays have typically spent near the bottom of the league in terms of player salaries, while also ranking near the bottom of MLB in average home attendance.

A new ballpark in St. Petersburg might cure what ails the team at the turnstiles. It also might further the original geographical sin the franchise committed by placing the ballpark in St. Petersburg, rather than Tampa, which has a larger population.

The Dreamers at least claim to have the money to build a ballpark if St. Petersburg does not. And, if they don't have the larger media market, it's not significantly smaller than Tampa/St. Pete. Now they have a Hall of Famer in their corner, too.

Home/Tampa Bay Rays

One baseball Hall of Famer is cooking up a Rays relocation plan to compete with Tampa/St. Petersburg

By J.P. Hoornstra | 5:43 PM EST