The Tampa Bay Rays are in Baltimore preparing for a game against the Orioles. Currently, they are in second place in the AL East, 2.5 games behind the New York Yankees. However, the major news dominating the baseball world is the potential sale of the team. This development has significant implications for Major League Baseball and was first reported by Sportico.
The Tampa Bay Rays are currently in advanced and exclusive negotiations to sell the team to a group led by Patrick Zalupski, a developer from Jacksonville who has secured additional investors. According to multiple sources who spoke with Sports Talk Florida and wished to remain anonymous due to the confidential nature of the details, the deal values the team at approximately $1.7 billion. The group intends to keep the team in Tampa, in alignment with the commitment made by MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred to elected officials on both sides of Tampa Bay back in March.
According to Forbes, Zalupski’s has a net worth of $1.4 billion. In 2009, Dream Finders had its first full year of business, during which the company built just 27 homes. By 2022, that number grew significantly, with the company selling 6,878 homes. Additionally, he has several investors from Tampa who are part of his group and are interested in purchasing the Rays to keep the team in Tampa.
Multiple sources have informed Sports Talk Florida that although Zalupski is the primary individual leading the group in exclusive negotiations with Sternberg, most of his fellow investors are based in Tampa. They have been in discussions with officials in Hillsborough County about a potential stadium in Tampa.
Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred has been talking to Rays owner Stu Sternberg, the principal owner, who purchased the franchise for $200 million in 2004. In recent years, several potential buyers have expressed interest in acquiring the Rays. In March, The Athletic reported that MLB Commissioner Manfred and other team owners were encouraging Sternberg to sell the team.
The Rays have established a strong reputation for their effective scouting, player development, and strategies driven by analytics. The Rays have been put together a template that many MLB franchises have copied and they have many former front office people are scatted all over MLB.
Tampa Bay has been one of the top-performing teams in Major League Baseball over the past decade. From 2015 to 2024, they achieved several impressive seasons, including: – 100 wins in 2021 – 99 wins in 2023 – 96 wins in both 2010 and 2019 – Over 90 wins in several other seasons During this period, their overall win percentage ranked among the best in the league. Additionally, they made postseason appearances in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023, including a World Series run in 2020.
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Things are moving quickly and the Rays put out a statement on the possible sale of the team.
Official statement from @RaysBaseball on a potential sale of the team: “The Tampa Bay Rays announced that the team has recently commenced exclusive discussions with a group led by Patrick Zalupski, Bill Cosgrove, Ken Babby and prominent Tampa Bay investors concerning a possible…
— Ryan Bass (@Ry_Bass) June 18, 2025
The success of the Rays on the field has been hindered by their location in Tropicana Field, which is in St. Petersburg. A significant portion of the Rays’ fan base lives in Tampa and the broader Central Florida region, including areas like Orlando, all of which are across the bay or even farther inland.
Sternberg has spent nearly 20 years attempting to get a new stadium built in either Tampa and St. Petersburg and there has been many near missies on both sides of the Bay. In March, Sternberg announced that the team will not proceed with plans to build a new $1.3 billion ballpark in St. Petersburg. He cited “a series of events beginning in October that no one could have anticipated” as the reason for this decision. Among the most significant events was Hurricane Milton, which caused severe damage to Tropicana Field. It was at that point situation that started widespread speculation that Sternberg may sell the team.
Back to the possible deal: It is reported sale price of $1.7 billion would be slightly lower than the $1.725 billion that a group led by David Rubenstein paid for the Baltimore Orioles last year. Additionally, this price would significantly surpass the Tampa Bay Rays’ valuation of $1.35 billion, as reported by Forbes in their latest evaluation for 2025.
Local political leaders who wanted no part of dealing with the Rays and one of his top critics Pinellas County Commissioner Chris Latvala turned to X to repeatedly pressure Sternberg to sell the team. “Thank You Stu,” he wrote Wednesday afternoon, after news broke of the potential sale.
Currently, the Rays are awaiting repairs to Tropicana Field, which is expected to be ready for the 2026 season. This year, due to the damage caused by Hurricane Milton, which tore off the stadium’s roof, the team is playing at George Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, with permission from the Yankees, who hold their spring training there.
