Rays Owner Stuart Sternberg always knew that MLB wouldn’t approve a split city plan, said former MLB team executive David Samson on a new episode of SBJ Spotlight, but he had to show that he was trying to keep the team in Tampa. Samson: “He knew from the beginning that the split city was not a possibility. This was his way to try to show desperation, and show the owners and everybody that he did everything possible to keep the team in Tampa. He's been talking about relocating that team for 15 years. Whether or not he will be able to negotiate a relocation fee and take a possible expansion market is a big wait to see, but I think this ends with a franchise sale and with a ballpark being done in Tampa with a new owner.”
Samson, now host of the “Nothing Personal with David Samson” podcast and an MLB analyst for CBS Sports, also talked with SBJ’s Abe Madkour about why MLB will approve expansion but not relocation, and how the challenges faced by regional sports networks are affecting the league.
