The Tampa Bay Rays should declare in writing whether they want to pursue an existing financing plan for a new $1.3 billion ballpark or walk away from the deal.

Imagine owning a team worth $1.25 billion. You’ve worked for years on a new ballpark, only to see it wiped out. Welcome to the joys of owning the Tampa Bay Rays.

If funding were approved, St. Petersburg residents would have been on the hook for a new stadium for one of baseball’s least attended teams.

Engineers completed an assessment of hurricane damage to the team's current ballpark, but plans to build a new $1.3-billion stadium could be falling apart.

As the debate over a new stadium heats up, the commissioner says the league will allow time for area leaders to sort things out.

Tampa Bay is scheduled to play 13 of its first 16 games at home and 47 of 59 through May 28, then play 69 of its last 103 games on the road. The Rays are home for eight of 25 games in July and eight of 26 in August.

The letter also illustrates that the county has not missed any deadlines thus far, despite the Rays “fallacious” claims.