Depending on how you feel about Rogers Centre or Angel Stadium, there are two teams that desperately need new ballparks: The Oakland A's and Tampa Bay Rays. Bud Selig has formed a panel for the first one! So something should happen any minute now. And now the Rays have a new ballpark proposal to consider. From the developer's website:
On Friday September 28th we provided our vision for a sports entertainment destination in Carillon Park, the center of Tampa Bay, with The Rays Park At Carillon at the center of it all.
The proposal lists an estimated cost between $424 million and $577 million, depending on the options. An open-air roof and wall would be the least costly, and a retractable roof and wall would be the most. In the middle is a fixed transparent roof, which would cost between $540 million and $549 million.
The site has renderings and estimates, but it also reveals a part of the plan that's likely to sour it to a lot of Rays fans: It'd still be in St. Petersburg, which has long been viewed as a reason the Rays haven't drawn well in Tropicana Field. Still, it's fun to look at the drawings and dream a little bit.