Tampa Bay Rays leaders now say they “support and expect” the city of St. Petersburg to repair hurricane-ravaged Tropicana Field in time for Opening Day 2026. It’s a change of tune from just a month and a half ago when the ball club brass signaled to city council members repairing their old home may not be in the best interest of the team moving forward. “I believe it’s going to be next to impossible to get the Trop repaired in time for the 2026 season and given that’s the case, efforts to try and repair it in time for that will cause us to have a parallel path for some other alternative for the 2026 season,” Rays Co-President Brian Auld said at a meeting on Nov. 21. The statement was enough for city council members to reverse a previous decision to spend tens of millions of dollars to replace the torn-down roof. Instead, they’ve incrementally improved funding clean-up and project design to stay in compliance with their contracts. These new revelations put forth in an email sent from the team’s other co-president Matt Silverman to St. Pete’s City Administrator Rob Gerdes last week, could give reason to the city to continue moving forward with a full repair. "While we had been open to considering a scenario in which the City bought out of its obligation to rebuild the ballpark, the Rays support and expect the City to rebuild Tropicana Field in accordance with the terms of the current Use Agreement,” reads the letter. Silverman wrote that after a recent presentation from an architect and conversations with MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, they believe a 2026 completion is feasible, but stressed a delay, or split to an alternative site would require significant financial and logistical challenges. “It is therefore critical that the rebuild start in earnest as soon as possible, that a realistic completion schedule be developed quickly and that the City diligently pursue the reconstruction as required by the Use Agreement,” Silverman said, adding they remain ready to work with the city to see the reconstruction through. “The League and the Rays stand at the ready to work hand in hand with the City throughout the reconstruction process to make sure the design and implementation satisfy MLB requirements and meet the necessary deadlines,” Silverman explained. "We look forward to a grand reopening."