Two Questions Facing New Rays Owner Patrick Zalupski<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a new captain at the helm of the Tampa Bay Rays ship. Patrick Zalupski has taken control, and while he\u2019s not throwing out the first pitch<\/a> just yet, it\u2019s clear the guy isn\u2019t here to simply keep the engine running. After all, you don\u2019t spend $1.7 billion just to watch from the luxury suite.<\/p>\n Neander stays, Cash returns, and the foundation holds<\/p>\n Zalupski\u2019s buyout from longtime owner Stuart Sternberg was unanimously approved by MLB owners in late September. And while the man hasn\u2019t even stepped behind the mic for his first press conference (that\u2019s coming tomorrow), one major call has already been made \u2014 and it\u2019s one fans should feel pretty good about: Erik Neander stays.<\/p>\n Now, if you\u2019re not familiar with Neander, this isn\u2019t some guy pulled from the bleachers. He started as an intern back in 2007. That\u2019s right \u2014 coffee and spreadsheets. Now he\u2019s been running the show<\/a> since 2018. And let\u2019s not pretend it\u2019s been a rough ride: five playoff appearances in eight seasons, a trip to the 2020 World Series, and a .559 winning percentage. That\u2019s solid, especially when you consider the Rays\u2019 budget situation.<\/p>\n Speaking of stability, manager Kevin Cash \u2014 the longest-tenured skipper in the Majors \u2014 is expected to return, too. Most of his coaching staff is staying put, though there\u2019s some noise about assistant hitting coach Brady North possibly shifting to another role. Still, the foundation seems intact.<\/p>\n Tropicana\u2019s troubles and the Rays stadium limbo<\/p>\n But here\u2019s where things get spicy: the stadium drama. Thanks to Hurricane Milton, Tropicana Field was deemed unusable this past season. The team had to scramble and landed at George M. Steinbrenner Field for the 2025 season. But after that, there is total uncertainty. There was a $1.3 billion stadium complex in the works, packed with retail, a hotel, and big dreams \u2014 but when city funding got delayed, that whole deal teetered. Sternberg, already feeling heat, threw in the towel.<\/p>\n Now it\u2019s Zalupski\u2019s puzzle to solve. <\/a>Will he rebuild trust with city leaders? Can he revive the vision of a downtown ballpark that finally gives the Rays a modern home? No one knows, but the current stadium lease runs through 2028, and if Tropicana isn\u2019t the answer in the long term, someone\u2019s going to need to write some big checks \u2014 public, private, or both.<\/p>\n Caminero is the cornerstone \u2014 and now\u2019s the time to act And don\u2019t look now, but Zalupski has another decision looming: locking down Junior Caminero. The 22-year-old phenom is already the face of the franchise. A .264\/.311\/.535 slash line, 45 homers, 110 RBI, and a standout All-Star performance.<\/p>\n Sure, Caminero\u2019s still got two years before arbitration, but waiting would be a gamble. You want to lock him in now. Eight years feels right. And based on what we\u2019ve seen with similar extensions \u2014 Chourio\u2019s $82M, Rafaela\u2019s $50M, even Roman Anthony\u2019s massive $130M deal \u2014 something in the $110\u2013$120 million range would make a whole lot of sense. Toss in some incentives, club options, maybe a little sugar on top, and boom \u2014 you\u2019ve secured your future.<\/p>\n So yes, there\u2019s a new owner in Tampa Bay, but the Rays\u2019 to-do list is already stacked. Stadium chaos. Superstar extensions. A fan base that wants answers. Welcome to Major League Baseball ownership, Mr. Zalupski \u2014 the honeymoon clock just started ticking.<\/p>\n The post Two Questions Facing New Rays Owner Patrick Zalupski<\/a> first appeared on ATL Braves Country<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two Questions Facing New Rays Owner Patrick Zalupski There\u2019s a new captain at the helm of the Tampa…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":365168,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2377],"tags":[40204,5,5965,1358,4,5839,297,2550,68,2551,2549,52312],"class_list":{"0":"post-365167","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa-bay-rays","8":"tag-atl-braves-country","9":"tag-baseball","10":"tag-breaking-news","11":"tag-local-news","12":"tag-mlb","13":"tag-newsbreak","14":"tag-rays","15":"tag-tampa-bay","16":"tag-tampa-bay-rays","17":"tag-tampabay","18":"tag-tampabayrays","19":"tag-two-questions-facing-new-rays-owner-patrick-zalupski"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115328118091246355","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=365167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365167\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/365168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=365167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=365167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=365167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\u00a9 Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images <\/p>\n