MLB commissioner: Tampa stadium site preferred for Rays, but ...

Most of the recent public talk regarding a new Rays stadium has come from St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch about building near the current site as part of the redevelopment of the Tropicana Field area.

Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said Tuesday he considered Tampa sites more preferable but acknowledged that location would not be the only factor in the process.

“Let me say this, I have always thought that a stadium on the other side of the causeway would be preferable in some respects,” Manfred said in Los Angeles before the All-Star Game.

“But there’s a variety of factors that have to be taken into account in terms of determining whether you’re going to be in St. Petersburg or Tampa. What financing is available, what sites are available, how quickly you can get in the ground.

“So it’s not just the location,” he continued. “There are other things that you need to take into account.”

Manfred said last month there was an “urgency” to resolve the Rays’ decades-long effort to get a new stadium and that “wherever it is in the region that has an interest” in hosting the team “they need to get to it.”

Manfred has said in the past he prefers to defer to team officials on local matters such as stadium sites.

Tuesday, speaking with members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, Manfred said he had no update but planned to talk later this week with Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg.

Rays claim lefty from Brewers

The Rays claimed left-hander Angel Perdomo off waivers from the Brewers and will send him to Triple-A Durham.

Perdomo, 28, pitched parts of 2020-21 in the majors, going 1-0 with a 8.24 ERA in 22 games. The 6-foot-8, 265-pounder started this season at Triple-A but pitched in only three games before being sidelined with a broken left hand. He has made two rehab appearances with the Brewers’ Arizona Complex League team.

To make room on the 40-man roster, the Rays designated right-hander Cooper Criswell for assignment. Criswell was claimed off waivers Saturday from the Angels.

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