Sports

The Cost For Proposed A’s And Rays Stadiums Has Risen

Published

10 hours ago

February 12, 2025

Austin Reed

Athletics’ owner John Fisher

Tariffs on steel and aluminum will raise the stadiums’ price tags.

The cost of building baseball stadiums in Las Vegas and St. Petersburg just got steeper after the United States imposed a 25 percent tariff on steel imports. Major League Baseball officials want new facilities in Las Vegas and St. Petersburg and there are plans to build stadiums in both cities but there have been problems in getting funding for both stadiums. In Las Vegas, the owner of the franchise John Fisher began his quest to move his business from Oakland to Las Vegas in April 2023. Nevada taxpayers are on the hook for $380 million to help fund the stadium which at last look was going to cost more than $1.5 billion. Fisher has not yet come up with his share of the stadium cost which was growing prior to the imposition of the tariffs on steel and aluminum.

Prior to the tariff imposition, the Tampa Bay Rays’ ownership wanted more public money from St. Petersburg and Pinellas County, Florida politicians to sign off on a deal to build a new St. Petersburg baseball facility and also a village surrounding the ballpark. The initial thought was the new stadium would open in 2028 but now it is 2029. Rays’ owner Stu Sternberg said he would be unable to absorb further cost overruns alone. It is estimated that Rays’ ownership would need to spend more than $150 million more on the stadium than budgeted. Sternberg’s baseball team will play in a minor league baseball park in Tampa after the roof of the Rays’ home ballpark was blown off by Hurricane Milton last October. “We’d like to keep the franchise in Tampa Bay,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said. “We think the market is big enough and that there is passion for the game. Having said that, it is challenging.” The steel tariff will make the two stadiums more costly.

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The Rays’ planned stadium-village is still needs funding.

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Yankees’ Boone says he hopes his team would handle title `with a little more class’ than Dodgers

Published

5 hours ago

February 13, 2025

Austin Reed

New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone speaks to reporters before a Game 4 of an American League Championship baseball series at Yankee Stadium, Sunday, Oct. 23, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Three months after the World Series, Yankees manager Aaron Boone remained unhappy with some of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ remarks after they beat a sloppy New York team in five games for the title.

Speaking on Tuesday at the start of spring training, Boone was asked whether his players took the comments personally.

“Probably a little bit,” he said, “but the reality is we didn’t play our best in the series and they won, so they have that right to say whatever. Hopefully, we’re in that position next year and handle things with a little more class but the reality is it’s a great team, it’s a great organization with a lot of great people that I happen to know and respect, too. So a few people sounding off isn’t necessarily how I would want to draw it up. But they’re the champs. They have that right.”

Los Angeles pitcher Joe Kelly said on his “ Baseball Isn’t Boring” podcast the Dodgers entered each game saying: “Just let them throw the ball into the infield. They can’t make a play.”

Jake Cousins sidelined and could miss opening day

Ahead of the opening workout, Boone said right-hander Jake Cousins has a strained right forearm and could resume throwing next week. Boone said the reliever is uncertain to be ready for the March 27 opener.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

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Rays start spring training with a solid pitching staff but questions remain on offense.

Published

6 hours ago

February 12, 2025

Austin Reed

Tampa Bay Rays’ Josh Lowe runs on his RBI double during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Infielder Ha-Seong Kim and the Tampa Bay Rays finalized a $29 million, two-year contract on Monday.

Kim, who played his first four seasons in the majors with the San Diego Padres and won a Gold Glove in 2023, will be paid $13 million this year. He also could earn $2 million in performance bonuses — $10,000 per plate appearance starting at 326 through 525.

Kim has a $16 million player option for 2026.

The 29-year-old South Korean tore the labrum in his right shoulder on Aug. 18 and needed season-ending surgery. He hit .233 with 11 homers, 47 RBIs and 22 stolen bases in the final season of a $28 million, four-year contract.

Kim had a .242 average with 47 homers, 200 RBIs and 78 stolen bases in 540 major league games over four seasons with the Padres.

Left-hander Brandon Eisert was designated for assignment.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

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Fresh off a World Series win, the Los Angeles Dodgers look even more formidable in 2025

Published

6 hours ago

February 12, 2025

Austin Reed

DODGERS WIN GAME ONE OF THE WORLD SERIES OVER THE YANKEES – AP-PHOTO

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Yoshinobu Yamamoto let loose a few fastballs and some nasty breaking balls during a bullpen session while manager Dave Roberts and pitching coach Mark Prior stood a few steps to each side of the pitcher, smiling as the ball popped into the mitt of catcher Will Smith.

The Los Angeles Dodgers were in a pretty good mood as spring training began at Camelback Ranch.

The defending World Series champions went through a light workout on Tuesday and most of their stars were on the field, including NL MVP Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts. Left-hander Clayton Kershaw played catch, a sign that the three-time Cy Young Award winner is returning for his 18th season.

“Everyone’s more hungry than ever,” third baseman Max Muncy said.

Muncy said he’s been in Arizona for the past 1 1/2 weeks, coming to the Dodgers facility early to get in defensive work with Betts and Miguel Rojas. It’s been a short offseason: The Dodgers hoisted the World Series trophy barely three months ago after beating the New York Yankees in five games.

Betts said the quick turnaround presents challenges, but they’re good problems to have.

“It’s definitely tough, but we didn’t win last year because we were talking about the World Series every day,” Betts said. “We won last year because we talked about the task at hand every day.

“We have an end goal, of course, but you have to take stepping stones to get there. We’ll get there when we get there.”

Los Angeles opens against the Chicago Cubs in Tokyo on March 18-19 and is trying to become the first team to win back-to-back World Series since the New York Yankees won three in a row from 1998-2000. The Dodgers’ owners spent to sign two-time All-Star Blake Snell, Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki and relievers Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates.

“Talent will take you to a certain place,” Rojas said. “But then the character will make you win championships. We realized that last year.”

Ohtani didn’t pitch last year following elbow surgery and is recovering from a partially torn labrum in his left (non-throwing) shoulder, an injury sustained while sliding into second base during the World Series.

Even without pitching, Ohtani won MVP last season after becoming the first MLB player to hit 50 homers and have 50 stolen bases in the same season. Now he’ll try to return to the mound, where he was 10-5 with a 3.14 ERA in 2023 with the Los Angeles Angels.

Roberts said at the team’s fan fest on Feb. 2 that a May return to the mound is “about right.” The manager also said Ohtani’s recovery from the offseason shoulder surgery was encouraging.

“He looks really strong,” Roberts said. “I saw some videos recently and you just wouldn’t think that there was any shoulder surgery this past winter.”

Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said last week that some fans were concerned about the sport’s lack of a salary cap, mostly because of the big spending of teams like the Dodgers and New York Mets.

Muncy says the team welcomes the attention — positive or negative.

“It’s just the nature of Dodger Stadium, our fans, the scene,” Muncy said. “We go on the road, our fans travel so well that we’re selling out every stadium we go to and that was even before the last couple years.”