St. Petersburg City Council votes down deal to allow Rays to look for new stadium site

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We heard last week that the Rays and the city of St. Petersburg reached an agreement to allow the team to look for a potential new stadium site in Hillsborough County. It was a tiny victory, but the deal needed to be approved by the St. Petersburg City Council first. That vote happened today, and well, it appears that there’s yet another roadblock:

This vote could have major ramifications, as Rays owner Stu Sternberg has previously said that he would likely sell the team if a new stadium deal is unable to be reached. Of course, that could open up the possibility of the team being moved to a new city. The Rays’ current lease at Tropicana Field expires in 2027.

UPDATE: Below is a statement from the Rays.

Dodgers place pitcher Noah Syndergaard on injured list with no timetable for return

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Katie Stratman/USA TODAY Sports
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CINCINNATI — The Los Angeles Dodgers placed pitcher Noah Syndergaard on the 15-day injured list Thursday with a blister on the index finger of his right throwing hand.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the timetable for Syndergaard’s return is unknown despite the 15-day designation.

“The physical, the mental, the emotional part, as he’s talked about, has taken a toll on him,” Roberts said. “So, the ability to get him away from this. He left today to go back to Los Angeles to kind of get back to normalcy.”

Syndergaard allowed six runs and seven hits in three innings against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night, raising his ERA to 7.16.

Syndergaard (1-4) has surrendered at least five runs in three straight starts.

Syndergaard has been trying to return to the player he was before Tommy John surgery sidelined him for the better part of the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Roberts said Syndergaard will need at least “a few weeks” to both heal and get away from baseball and “reset.”

“I think searching and not being comfortable with where he was at in the moment is certainly evident in performance,” Roberts said. “So hopefully this time away will provide more clarity on who he is right now as a pitcher.

“Trying to perform when you’re searching at this level is extremely difficult. I applaud him from not running from it, but it’s still very difficult. Hopefully it can be a tale of two stories, two halves when he does come back.”