The Tampa Bay Rays new ownership group finally met the media at long last. Patrick Zalupski, Bill Cosgrove, and Ken Babby represent a fresh set of faces for a franchise that had grown accustomed to Stu Sternberg. The press conference touched on a variety of topics, but the commentary on payroll and finances was perhaps the most noteworthy.
Some of the comments may not sit well with Rays fans.
New Rays Ownership Pours Cold Water On Monster Payroll
The New Owners Keep It Real
The three gentlemen at the podium project a different kind of energy. They are optimistic about this franchise and the current competitive state of the organization. That said, there are plenty of issues to work through in the coming months. None bigger than the cost of a new stadium. The plan centers around having the stadium ready by the start of the 2029 season. How about the repairs to get Tropicana Field ready for next spring? All of that will cost a boatload of money, and the Rays typically run a shoestring budget. So, will the new owners have leftover money to pour into the payroll in the near future?
Zalupski says the ambitious plan is to have a world-class baseball stadium here in the Bay Area by the start of the 2029 season. #Rays
— Scott Smith (@ScottSmithFOX13) October 7, 2025
The Sobering Reality
That line about the club’s economics is the most noteworthy of the entire media gathering. Zalupski and his group just spent $1.7 billion to acquire the club. That’s just to obtain the rights to run the club. Can you imagine how much money the franchise probably lost by playing in a smaller capacity venue at Steinbrenner Field? In fact, there were perhaps massive losses.
The challenge going forward is to generate massive revenue not only to support the franchise but also to compete with the financial behemoths in the AL East. Credit to Zalupski and company for talking about that during this press conference. Zalupski mentioned the Atlanta Braves stadium and the surrounding district as something the Rays would like to imitate. The problem is that any amount of revenue generated won’t be fully realized until the stadium is actually built. Since the stated goal for completing a new stadium is 2029, the franchise won’t collect that money until 2029 at the earliest. In the short term, the new ownership group will be looking to scrape together as many nickels as possible.
Looking Down the Line
Rays fans should still feel optimistic about the direction of the franchise. Having said that, could a soft rebuild potentially be in the works? Probably not. There is still a solid base of foundational talent led by Junior Caminero and Jonathan Aranda. Those two players aren’t making gobs of money yet, but maybe now is the time to approach them with long-term contract extensions to establish future cost certainty. Once the money from the new stadium starts rolling in, the contracts could look like an absolute bargain.
It must be noted that the three gentlemen excessively praised the current baseball uniformed leadership, including manager Kevin Cash. The Rays may be quiet in free agency, but they should remain active in the trade market. They have plenty of talent and will need to continue augmenting before the new stadium eventually rolls around.
Main Photo Credits: Kim Klement-Imagn Images
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