2025 Tampa Bay Rays

2025 Tampa Bay Rays / Franchise: Tampa Bay Rays / BR Team Page

Record: 77-85, Finished 4th in AL Eastern Division (2025 AL)

Managed by Kevin Cash

Coaches: Tomas Francisco, Michael Johns, Rick Knapp, Rodney Linares, Jorge Moncada, Chad Mottola, Brady North, Kyle Snyder and Brady Williams

Ballpark: George M. Steinbrenner Field

History, Comments, Contributions

The 2025 Tampa Bay Rays were forced to abandon their home ballpark, Tropicana Field, not because they had finally accepted the fact that it was completely inadequate for a major league baseball team, but because it had been partially destroyed by a hurricane that hit the Tampa Bay area a few days after the end of the 2024 season. With plans to replace Tropicana Field still at their early stages - the target date for a move was 2028 - they were left with few alternatives for this season, and settled for the least bad of them, which was to take over the New York Yankees' spring training home, George M. Steinbrenner Field, located in Tampa, FL. While the facility was in good condition, it was also barely adequate as a major league ballpark, due to limited capacity and the absence of any climate control - something that was likely to make playing conditions less than optimal in the hot and humid summers of Florida. To counter this, MLB decided to deliberately schedule a large number of home games in Tampa in the first half of the season, when the weather was still pleasant, in order to avoid playing too many games at the park at the height of summer.

The first consequence of the move was to delay the Rays' home opener, against the Colorado Rockies, by one day: while the 28 other teams would play their first game on March 27th (discounting the two-game Tokyo Series that had taken place the previous week), the Rays had to do so on March 28th, just to give work crews enough time to take down the Yankees' spring signage and replace it with visuals proclaiming the facility the Rays' home park. At least, by playing outdoor home games for the first time in franchise history - except for the few played in Orlando, FL the previous decade - the Rays could take advantage to do things they had never done previously, such as pre- and post-game fireworks, and a flyover by the U.S. Air Force.

The Rays did not take immediate advantage of their favorable schedule as they played poorly at home in their first few weeks, not something entirely surprising as their new temporary home was as different from their former home base as any two ballparks could be. They generally played before full houses (or nearly so), but then again this was taking into account that the seating capacity was just over 10,000. Many of these fans were rooting for the visitors, a phenomenon that had also plagued the 2021 Toronto Blue Jays when they had been forced by circumstances to open their season using TD Ballpark in Dunedin, FL as their home ballpark. However, by late May, the Rays had become accustomed to their new digs and managed to pull off a six-game winning streak at home that raised their record to .500 on Memorial Day, May 26th.

Awards and Honors

• All-Stars: Jonathan Aranda, Junior Caminero, Brandon Lowe and Drew Rasmussen

Further Reading

• "Rays move in to their new home for 2025", mlb.com, March 26, 2025. [1]
• Adam Berry: "Rays will play at George M. Steinbrenner Field in 2025", mlb.com, November 14, 2025. [2]
• Adam Berry: "'Everybody thought we had this in us': Rays rise above .500 in 6th straight win", mlb.com, May 26, 2025. [3]

2025 MLB season by team