The sale of the Rays seems to be coming to fruition. A report from says that a sale has been agreed to in principle which would see the club be sold from current owner Stuart Sternberg to a group led by Patrick Zalupski. The deal is worth about $1.7 billion and is expected to be completed as soon as September. The report adds that Zalupski plans to keep the club in the Tampa area, with a preference for Tampa proper over St. Petersburg. The sale would need to be approved by 75% of MLB owners in order to become official. It was about a month ago that Sternberg was in advanced talks to sell the team to Zalupskis group. Shortly after that reporting emerged, spoke to hedge fund founder Trip Miller, who spoke of his desire to get involved in the bidding. Its unclear if there was ever any chance of Millers group outpacing Zalupskis, but it now seems basically confirmed that Zalupskis group will be taking over. As of a year ago, it seemed like Sternberg was going to stick around for a long time. He purchased the club in 2004 Paul Campbell Jersey for $200MM. Since then, he has been trying to find a long-term home for the club so that the Rays could move on from Tropicana Field, which has long been viewed as insufficient and outdated for the major leagues. Various proposals were floated over the years, including a creative plan which would have seen the franchise split its home games between Florida and Montreal. That was nixed but the Rays eventually put a plan in place to build a new stadium on the Tropicana Field site. Under that plan, the Rays would stay at The Trop through 2027 but would open the new facility in 2028. They had agreements in place with the city of St. Petersburg, Pinellas County and private investors for the $1.2 billion project. That entire plan was thrown off the rails in October when Hurricane Milton swept through the area, doing significant damage to The Trop, particularly the roof. The Trop became unplayable for 2025 and the new stadium plan got delayed. Elections in October changed the composition of local government bodies, with the new paradigm le s amenable to the Rays. The club made arrangements to play the 2025 season at George M. Steinbrenner field in Tampa. That seemed to not sit well with some Pinellas County officials, as Steinbrenner Field is in Hillsborough County. The relationship between Sternberg and local officials seemed to sour, as he claimed the delays would lead to ma sive cost overruns. It was in March that the Rays would not be moving forward with the planned deal. That was shortly after it had been that league officials had been pre suring Sternberg to sell. Now it seems the transition proce s is making quick progre s and Zalupskis group could be at the helm a couple of months from now. Thats notable timing, as there are key things to be worked out regarding the future of the franchise. Its still unclear if the The Trop will be playable in time for the 2026 season. Theres also the usual baseball matters of payroll and things of that nature. And of course, new plans will need to be developed for a future stadium. As mentioned, the report from The Athletic says Zalupskis preference would be for the club to be in Tampa proper, as opposed to St. Petersburg. That is something that will have to be negotiated with local officials and private investors. If the club can chart a course towards a move into Tampa, there would be logic to that. It has been suggested by many that The Trops location isnt highly acce sible, which has contributed to the clubs poor attendance figures over the years, despite generally fielding competitive teams. A move to Tampa could help in that regard, though previous attempts to get the club into Tampa have not been succe sful. Zalupski is the CEO of Dream Finders Homes, a publicly traded, Jacksonville-based developer that has built more than 31,000 homes acro s ten states. Forbes estimates his net worth at $1.4 billion, while his companys valuation rests at $3.4 billion. The timeline for the Rays will also have consequences acro s the league. Commi sioner Rob Manfred has long insisted that expansion wouldnt be a realistic po sibility until the Athletics and Rays found new stadiums. The As are currently playing in West Sacramento but are expected to start playing in their new Las Vegas stadium by the 2028 season. If that plan progre ses on schedule and the Rays get a new stadium plan in the works, then expansion will become a more realistic po sibility. Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images Nick Fortes Jersey