Pete Fairbanks has an opinion about where Rays’ interim home should be

Pete Fairbanks is like many of us, stunned by Hurricane Milton’s damage to Tropicana Field and waiting anxiously to find out where the Rays will play in the interim. He also wonders when or if the stadium will be repaired, given plans for a new one to be built and open in 2028.

“We only have as much information, I would think, as everybody else,” said Fairbanks, the team’s closer. “We’re just kind of running through all the scenarios that could happen and just waiting to kind of hear what we think is the route that’s going to be taken.”

Fairbanks has a keen interest, as one of the most veteran Rays, the team’s union rep and one of a handful of players who live in the area year-round (as does much of the staff).

His preference is that the Rays continue to play in the Tampa Bay area, which would mean one of the nearby spring/minor-league stadiums, summer rain delays and all.

“I think being local is the first (choice),” Fairbanks said. “I think that it would be a disservice to everybody, especially with the prospect of the new stadium coming and everything else, to leave for however long. I think it would be pretty contrary to what everybody’s been working towards here.”

Doing so, even if at the Phillies’ facility in Clearwater or the Yankees’ in Tampa or elsewhere nearby, would add a sense of familiarity to the odd situation.

“You’re still in the region with the people that watch you every night, and the people that are at the stadium you see every day, etc., I think is, I would imagine, is what everybody wants,” he said.

The players union will have some say into the facilities at the interim site (such as clubhouses, field lighting and surface, training room space, weight rooms), but Fairbanks said officials there are waiting to hear what Major League Baseball is considering.

MLB officials, it seems, are waiting to get a sense of whether returning to the Trop at some point is possible based on the city, team and insurance assessments — which will determine how long a new home is needed — and what interim options might be realistic. (Commissioner Rob Manfred has said MLB would prefer to keep the team in the Tampa Bay area.)

“Hopefully, whatever decision ends up getting made is one that benefits the people that are going to be around here watching Rays baseball for the next however many years,” Fairbanks said.

Having evacuated to Atlanta for the Oct. 9 storm, Fairbanks said he was in disbelief after first seeing clips of the shredded Trop roof in social media posts sent by agent Aaron Elking.

Fairbanks said he returned to St. Petersburg the next night, drove near the stadium and thought it looked “like a bomb went off on it.”

He got a closer look last week, after a community event in the Trop parking lot. He was able to duck in to pick up equipment he’d left in the clubhouse. He said the scene reminded him of a TV drama about Earth after nuclear war destroyed civilization.

“It was almost, like, surreal,” Fairbanks said. “It felt like it was something from “The 100,” not something we were playing in a month ago.”

And possibly never again.

“Just after looking at it, I don’t feel like you can rule that out,” he said. “But that’s something that I obviously I hope is not the case, because there’s going to be a lot of rainouts over the next couple years if it is.”

Winter wonders

Top prospect Carson Williams and three other Rays minor-leaguers were chosen for the 28-man Team USA roster for the upcoming Premier12 world tournament. Williams, projected as the starting shortstop, will be joined by speedy outfielder Chandler Simpson and relievers Antonio Menendez and Austin Vernon. Play starts Nov. 9 in Mexico, with the top two finishers in the six-team pool advancing to the final round Nov. 21-24 in Japan. The Rays led all teams with four selections (plus 44-year-old ex-Ray Rich Hill); only players not on 40-man rosters are eligible.

Rays rumblings

Carlos Pena will be inducted into the Sports Club of Tampa Bay Hall of Fame on Nov. 7; tickets to the induction — a luncheon at the Colombia restaurant in Ybor City, with several other former big-leaguers expected — are $65. See sportscluboftampabay.org for more information. … Director of predictive modeling Taylor Smith, who has been with the Rays since 2018, was hired by the rival Red Sox as an assistant general manager. … The Rays seem likely to soon pick up Brandon Lowe’s $10.5 million option for 2025. If not, he will become a free agent. According to The Athletic’s Jim Bowden, Lowe would rank 31st of those available; be a good fit for the Blue Jays, Mariners, Yankees, White Sox or Rays; and in line for a 2-year, $24 million deal. (That’s reasonable, as the Rays also hold an $11.5 million option for 2026.) … Reliever Michael Flynn, acquired from the Dodgers in the Amed Rosario deadline deal, re-signed a minor-league deal with a spring invite. He struck out 59 batters in 42 Triple-A innings. … Longtime former Rays coach and Tampa native Ozzie Timmons was let go by the Brewers after three years as a hitting coach. … Tampa’s Victoria VanAlmen will be competing Sunday at Dodger Stadium as one of five finalists in the age 11-12 softball category of the annual Pitch, Hit & Run competition (streaming on mlb.com starting at noon EDT). … Tampa-raised Hall of Famer Wade Boggs posted a positive update on his battle with prostate cancer, thanking a well-wisher and writing “everyone’s prayers are working going well.” … The highest finisher of any Ray in the Fielding Bible defensive awards was centerfielder Jose Siri, who tied for fifth with Boston’s Jarren Duran. Siri and shortstop Taylor Walls, who played only 83 games, logged 12 defensive runs saved, tying for 19th among all players. … Hurricane damage to the Trop also impacts non-Rays events, such as the March 15-16 Savannah Bananas games. The Enchant Christmas show was not coming back after a four-year run, having cut back for 2024 to three western cities. … If the ex-Rays quotient matters in your World Series allegiance, the Dodgers have six players on their 40-man/injured roster — Anthony Banda, Tyler Glasnow, Brent Honeywell, Daniel Hudson (spring 2018), Kevin Kiermaier and Evan Phillips — plus several front office executives, topped by baseball operations boss Andrew Friedman and GM Brandon Gomes. The Yankees have none.

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