If you'd asked me even 6 months ago, I would have told you contraction isn't a viable option. The more you look at the economic problems of the game, the more you realize all the options are on the table. The Devil Rays are in a state of chaos. The team is for sale but, with attendance continuing to decline, the outlook isn't good. You can talk about new stadiums, new marketing plans, more competitive teams, etc., but major league baseball in Florida was a mistake.
Fans love to go there for spring training.
The jury still is out on whether the state can support regular-season baseball. At dinner one night before Commissioner Peter Ueberroth left office in March 1989, he talked about baseball in Florida. For it to work, Ueberroth said, one, and only one, team should be located in the state, preferably the Orlando area. Naimoli, an astute businessman, has never been able to understand why fan support declined so dramatically after the Devil Rays' first season in 1998. Putting the team in St. Petersburg probably was the biggest mistake, although Naimoli firmly disagrees.