ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Major League Baseball hopes to find the Tampa Bay Rays a temporary home near their fanbase at least for the start of the 2025 season if the damage to Tropicana Field from Hurricane Milton cannot be repaired in time.

The translucent fiberglass dome at the ballpark in St. Petersburg was shredded by Milton’s winds, leaving its immediate future in doubt. A number of spring training sites around the Tampa Bay area have been suggested as temporary homes, and MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said the league wants a location in the region if possible.

“We’re hopeful that we can figure out something in (the Tampa Bay area) for them and that the repairs can be done in a way that allows them to resume playing,” Manfred said on a recent episode of The Varsity podcast.

“The easiest thing is always to stay in the market where the clubs are anchored, if we can manage it,” he said.

The Rays have played at Tropicana Field since their inaugural 1998 season, although the building was constructed in 1990. The hurricane damage comes a few months after the city of St. Petersburg and Pinellas County approved a new $1.3 billion ballpark in an adjacent location that would open in the 2028 season, part of a much larger downtown revitalization project.

The city has hired the Hennessy/AECOM firm to do a complete analysis of the Tropicana Field damage and contracted with another company to remove the remaining roof material, said St. Petersburg spokeswoman Alizza Punzalan-Randle. The city has also filed a claim with its insurance carrier, she said.

So, where would the Rays go if the Trop isn’t ready on Opening Day of 2025?

Suggestions have included local-area spring training sites used by the Phillies, Blue Jays, Yankees, Pirates and Tigers. A bit further away is the Rays’ own spring training complex in Port Charlotte, about 85 miles south of St. Petersburg. Another option may be the ballpark at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports complex near Orlando.

Most of those ballpark options host minor league teams after spring training ends, which could prompt significant adjustments to minor league team schedules. One way around that would be to play at the Orioles’ spring training site in Sarasota, which does not have a minor league team.

There has also been talk of the Rays sharing the Miami Marlins’ stadium, but that would be a major scheduling challenge and about a four-hour drive from St. Petersburg.

A previous proposal to have the Rays play some home games in Montreal resurfaced, but the stadium there is undergoing renovation and would not be ready for next season.

The Rays declined comment Tuesday and have had said only that it could take weeks “to assess the true condition of Tropicana Field.” Playing there without a roof is another idea, but the Trop doesn’t have the drainage systems necessary in such a rain-prone location.

Another factor to consider is how much money should be spent to repair a facility that will be torn down for the new ballpark in a few years.

The Rays’ opening “home” game against the Colorado Rockies is scheduled for March 27, 2025, and Manfred said MLB, the team and other entities will come up with a solution.

CARDINALS: The St. Louis Cardinals continued their offseason makeover, hiring Brant Brown and former outfielder Jon Jay as coaches and luring Robert Cerfolio away from the Guardians to be their assistant general manager for player development and performance.

Brown, who was the Mariners’ bench coach and offensive coordinator last season, will take over as the St. Louis hitting coach. He spent the 2023 season in that role with the Marlins and has spent time with the Dodgers and Rangers organizations.

Jay played 12 seasons in the big leagues, including a stint from 2010-15 with the Cardinals that included a World Series title in 2011. He spent the past two seasons as the first base and hitting coach with the Marlins.

Willie McGee, who has been a Cardinals coach since 2018, will transition into a role as special assistant to John Mozeliak, the president of baseball operations. The team said other changes to the coaching staff will be announced soon.

Last month, the Cardinals announced that Chaim Bloom would replace Mozeliak after the 2025 season as the head of their baseball operations. The expectation is that Bloom would spend the upcoming offseason and season overseeing a reset of the Cardinals’ player development program after they missed the playoffs for the second consecutive year.

Mozeliak has been general manager in St. Louis since 2007. He was elevated to president of baseball operations in 2017.

The Cardinals said that Cerfolio would hire a farm director and director of performance while announcing several in-house promotions. Matt Bayer will become senior director of baseball development, Kevin Seats the senior director of analytics, DC MacLea the manager of video technology and Brady Hall the player development video and tech coordinator.

METS: Pitcher Paul Blackburn had a procedure this month to repair leaking spinal fluid, the team announced.

The issue sidelined Blackburn in September and caused him to miss New York’s playoff run that ended Sunday with a Game 6 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series.

The team said Blackburn underwent a cerebrospinal fluid leak repair on Oct. 11 with Dr. Wouter Schievink at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles. Blackburn could return to play in four to five months, the Mets said, which would put him on the mound during spring training.

The right-hander was acquired from Oakland at the July 30 trade deadline for minor league pitcher Kade Morris to fill a spot at the back of New York’s rotation down the stretch.

Blackburn, however, made only five starts for the Mets, going 1-2 with a 5.18 ERA. He landed on the 15-day injured list with a bruised right hand after getting hit by a line drive on Aug. 23 and was scheduled to return on Sept. 9 in Toronto but was scratched because of a sore lower back.

He said he felt a compression-like sensation during physical activity, and that’s when he learned about the spinal fluid leak in his back.

Blackburn received 10 platelet-rich plasma injections and began throwing again on Sept. 18, hoping to return to the Mets in some capacity. But a few days later, they ruled him out for the rest of the regular season.

The 30-year-old Blackburn, an All-Star in 2022 with Oakland, finished 5-4 with a 4.66 ERA in 14 starts overall with the Athletics and Mets. He is 22-28 with a 4.85 ERA in eight major league seasons.

Blackburn had a $3.45 million salary this year and is eligible for arbitration this winter.