The Rays plan to play the 2025 season at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, the spring training base of the rival New York Yankees.

The Rays have been looking for a temporary home since Hurricane Milton wreaked havoc on Tropicana Field last month. Under a repair plan unveiled Tuesday, the Trop won’t be playable until the 2026 season.

The Rays apparently chose Steinbrenner Field over Clearwater’s BayCare Ballpark, home of the Philadelphia Phillies, in consultation with Major League Baseball.

An announcement will be made later today.

“We’re in ongoing conversations with (the Rays), and they had talked to me about that,” St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch said. “…I understand their motivations for Steinbrenner. … I’ll let them talk about that.”

“We discussed Clearwater versus Tampa and why they might want to go that direction, along with MLB.”

Newly elected Pinellas County Commissioner Vince Nowicki said Thursday morning that he was told the Rays had called St. Petersburg city council members to tell them of their plans.

Details of the agreement with MLB and the Yankees, and the fate of the Class A minor league Tarpons, who will play at Steinbrenner Field this summer, were not immediately clear.

Rays officials declined comment, saying they have questions about their preferences and terms for potential homes.

While there has been speculation about stadium locations across the state and country, as well as internationally, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said last month that he wanted the team to remain in the Tampa Bay area and noted several workable options at training stadiums in the spring.

Steinbrenner Field, which opened in 1996 as Legends Field, is located across Dale Mabry Highway from Raymond James Stadium. It will offer the largest capacity (11,026) of the spring stadiums, along with 13 suites, several club rooms, social areas and cabana seating, plus other upgrades from a $40 million renovation ahead of the 2017 season.

It is just as attractive and has many of the standard equipment, facilities and amenities required for Major League players. As a result, the facility would require the fewest upgrades to meet MLB regular season and player association standards.

A disadvantage would be playing in the summer heat and rain. According to Florida State League data, the Tarpons have averaged 6.4 postponements per year over the past 10 seasons, almost all of them weather-related.

Playing in Tampa would also give the Rays access to a segment of their market they have seemingly struggled to connect with, bringing the game closer to fans who sometimes find the travel time to downtown St. Petersburg prohibitive .

The decision likely won’t sit well with some Pinellas County commissioners, who wanted the team to stay in the county by playing in Clearwater or Dunedin (home of the Blue Jays). They have the power to vote against the bonds needed to finance the Rays’ planned $1.3 billion stadium, which could kill the deal.

Commissioner Chris Latvala said at a provincial workshop Thursday, “I’m not going to say you’re playing in Dunedin or you’re playing in Clearwater and I’m a yes. But if they play Hillsborough, I’m a no. So you know, they can do the math however they want to do the math.

Welch, determined to return the Rays to a repaired Trop in 2026, said he remains “optimistic” they can work with the province and keep the new stadium deal intact.

“We’re going to have that conversation about the long-term value of the deal with the Rays and see where it goes,” Welch said. “I remain confident that the thirty-year agreement makes sense for the province and the city. …

“I think the right economic decision will win, and we will talk about it. Ultimately, we have many priorities in the city. The deal we made still makes sense. … I see a lot of ways to make it work.”

Welch hopes the Rays only need one year in a halfway house. An assessment report found that repairs to the Trop will cost at least $56 million and last until just before opening day in late March 2026.

As a result, he said, there isn’t much they can do about 2025.

‘If we had a perfect world they would be in the Trop, but we don’t. So they have to figure that out,” Welch said. “My goal is to get the Trop fixed and have them back in ’26 where they need to be in St. Pete.”

The Rays’ arrival would cause disruptions for the Yankees’ Tarpons farm team, which plays in the Low A Florida State League and is often the affiliate where major league players begin injury rehab assignments as the team continues its minor league has a base across the street. .

Under current schedules, there are 42 dates when the Rays and Tarpons — who averaged 993 fans per game last season — would both play at home. Manfred said there could be some adjustments to team schedules if there was an agreement for the Rays to play in a minor league facility, and FSL officials were recently told to expect changes.

Rays catcher Ben Rortvedt, a former Yankee, said last month that if the Rays played at Steinbrenner Field, it would be workable.

“The facility is beautiful,” Rortvedt said. “The locker room is nice, they are renovating. There are plenty of batting cages and (covered) mounds. It is one of the nicer facilities I have been to.”

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