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Rays owner Stuart Sternberg frustrated, but optimistic

 
Published June 16, 2018|Updated June 16, 2018

NEW YORK — So what does the boss — lowercase, of course, around here — think of this up-and-down, hot-and-cold Rays season so far? Appropriately, a variety of things.

In a 30-minute chat with the Tampa Bay Times before Friday's 5-0 loss to the Yankees, Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg shared some of his optimism, frustration, concern, hope and confidence about the team, the season and the prospects for a new stadium in Tampa.

Some excerpts:

• On the results thus far:

He is not pleased with the overall losing record. Called it "incredibly disappointing" that 18 of their 37 losses were by one run. Couldn't believe how many players, especially pitchers, they've lost to injury. Is openly concerned about how they'll get through this stretch of 16 games against the contending Yankees, Astros and Nationals.

And, still, thinks they can make something out of this season.

"Things have to break right for us, and if anything, it's broken the other way,'' he said. "Given all that, for better or worse, the toughest part of the season is right now. If we can somehow get through this and hold our own, if we can do that, July, August, September is going to be a fun, great, optimistic team to watch. And we'll see. … If we can get streaky, stuff can happen. We're not writing off this season by any stretch.''

• On the negative reaction to their unorthodox pitching plan of using a game opener:

The volume and intensity have been surprising, though he acknowledged that may be because they'd talked about it for years and tried it in 2015. But, still …

"I know guys at MLB, in the offices and around the league, they're looking at it and I don't think anybody is rooting for us to have it work, put it that way,'' he said. "It's a no-brainer for us. If I was running out the Astros rotation or what ours looked like (previously) we might still do it at times. But here, we're going to do it more. If we hadn't had 11 starters taken from us (injured, a slight exaggeration). But it's absolutely the right thing to do.''

• On the roster turnover:

He lauded his staff for being "pretty pristine" in the high volume of moves they made and felt they "filled in almost as good or better" for all the veterans they traded with one exception, noting the way outfielder Corey Dickerson has played for the Pirates so far, hitting .310 with a large drop-off in strikeouts.

"If we would have seen him change his game around and not swinging at everything and striking out a lot less and walking more, it was easy, right?'' he said.

Also that the opportunity to trade Denard Span and Alex Colome had to be taken, and the savings will be re-invested.

• On the stadium:

Sternberg said there has been enough talk with Tampa, Hillsborough County and business leaders that there is "no reason why we shouldn't have a good sense of where things are headed by year's end,'' which means "it shouldn't be necessary" to get an extension on the deadline to let St. Petersburg know if the Rays will be leaving the Trop before the 2027 end of their term.

Also, that the team's contribution to the estimated $800 million project remains fluid from his original $150 million suggestion, based on commitments for major sponsorships and naming rights. "The more we can sell, the more we can contribute,'' he said.

And that he feels the team has done "great" and is "ready,'' that there is a lot of "excitement" for the project in the community and now it's a matter of seeing if a workable deal can be made.

Drawing an analogy to the closing scene in the movie The Iron Giant, Sternberg said it's a matter now of all the pieces coming together:

"There are all these things. There is money out there, there are sponsorships out there, there are fans out there … and it's got to coalesce. It's got to coalesce. It's not New York, where's it just ready to go. Atlanta — boom, boom, boom. This is going to take the sum of a lot of parts to come together to make it happen.

"The pieces are there. People need the will, the desire and, including us, the confidence that it's an important thing to do and a worthwhile thing to do.''

• On the youth movement, and feeling like he did in 2007 looking to the near future:

"It's exciting, and it's not a one-, two-year thing. I think we've got just blue skies ahead of us on the field and it's going to be real fun times. A lot of the story is going to be told come July, August and September, similar to 2007. I'm not saying we're going to win 97 games next year but in '07 we felt really good about what the team looked like the next three-four years.''

Marc Topkin can be reached at mtopkin@tampabay.com. Follow @TBTimes_Rays