How will Stu Sternberg’s Rays tenure be remembered?

Tampa Bay Rays principal owner Stu Sternberg is in the final stages of selling the team for $1.7 billion to an ownership group led by developer Patrick Zalupski.

This will end Sternberg’s 22-year tenure as the Rays’ majority owner.

As such a prominent figure in the Tampa Bay area, it’s easy for strong opinions to be formed about Sternberg. But as this chapter of Rays baseball comes to a close, it begs the question: How will Sternberg’s tenure of ownership be remembered?

What Sternberg took over

From 1998-2008, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays had the worst record of all major league teams, going 645-972. Sternberg took over as principal owner after the 2005 season and helped rebrand the Devil Rays into the Rays in 2008.

The team’s original principal owner was Vince Naimoli, who helped bring Major League Baseball to Tampa Bay for the first time. The MLB awarded the area a franchise in 1995, and the Devil Rays played their inaugural season in 1998.

But Naimoli lacked vision. He insisted on short-term solutions to the team’s problems, stressing to the first-ever general manager Chuck LaMar that the team could not lose more than 100 games in its first season.

To make this happen, the Devil Rays signed veteran free agents like first baseman Fred McGriff and third baseman Wade Boggs. The idea was to avoid a historically bad start, but the strategy backfired. The Devil Rays never won more than 70 games while Naimoli owned the team.

Ironically, the Arizona Diamondbacks, who also entered MLB in 1998, followed a similar approach — but theirs worked. They signed Randy Johnson in 1998 and later traded for Curt Schilling, winning the World Series in 2001. That made them the fastest expansion franchise to reach the mountaintop in league history.

The Devil Rays had no such luck. Attendance fell every year during Naimoli’s tenure. He threatened to move the team if the St. Petersburg City Council didn’t approve multimillion-dollar upgrades to Tropicana Field. Eventually, Naimoli sold the team to Sternberg’s ownership group in 2006.

What Sternberg did right

From 2008, when the Devil Rays rebranded as the Rays, through 2024, Tampa Bay posted a 1,446-1,207 record. That’s the third-best mark in the majors over that span. The Rays made nine postseason appearances, won four AL East titles and played in two World Series. The elusive championship ring, though, never came.

Still, the Rays carved out a reputation for winning in ways never seen before. Tampa Bay combined farm system development, analytics, bold trades and groundbreaking strategies to get the most out of its roster every year.

Third baseman Evan Longoria, drafted in 2006 during Sternberg’s first year as owner, became the face of the franchise. He helped lead the Rays to the World Series as a rookie and is widely regarded as the greatest Ray of all time.

Sternberg’s Rays also drafted stars like pitchers David Price, Blake Snell and center fielder Kevin Kiermaier.

Trades were another hallmark. In 2018, the Rays flipped pitcher Chris Archer to Pittsburgh for outfielder Austin Meadows and pitchers Tyler Glasnow and Shane Baz. The deal proved lopsided. Archer fizzled with the Pirates and left by 2020, while Glasnow and Meadows became key pieces of Tampa Bay’s 2020 World Series run. The kicker? Archer re-signed with the Rays in 2021.

That was just one example of the Rays’ uncanny trading ability. The front office had a reputation for fleecing rivals, often dealing away established stars for lesser-known players who blossomed in Tampa Bay. Fans and analysts alike warned: “Don’t trade with the Rays.”

The Rays also innovated on the field. They pioneered the “opener” strategy in 2018, when manager Kevin Cash used reliever Sergio Romo to start games before turning to Ryan Yarbrough as a bulk pitcher. The move prevented starters from repeatedly facing the top of opposing lineups, and it worked.

Other creative strategies followed, like heavy platooning and lineup manipulation, even rolling out all right-handed lineups against left-handed pitchers. These unorthodox tactics required total organizational buy-in — something Sternberg’s leadership helped cultivate through executives Andrew Friedman, Matt Silverman and Erik Neander.

What Sternberg did wrong

For all the regular-season success, a dark cloud looms: The Rays never won a World Series.

In many ways, Sternberg’s Rays are defined by what-ifs. The only times they advanced past the ALDS were in 2008 and 2020, when they reached the World Series — only to lose both.

Playoff disappointment was a theme. In 2010, the Rays won 96 games but didn’t win a playoff series. In 2021, they won 100 games and another AL East title but again failed in October. They now carry a seven-game postseason losing streak, including sweeps in the 2022 and 2023 Wild Card rounds, when they scored only two runs combined.

Beyond October woes, Sternberg failed to win over the market. Attendance consistently ranked in the bottom five of MLB. Since 2011, the Rays haven’t averaged more than 20,000 fans per game.

Part of that stems from the franchise’s roster churn. Longoria, the one true franchise cornerstone, was traded to San Francisco in 2017. The move, while defensible on the field, severed trust with many fans. He was the name on most jerseys, and his departure drove casual supporters away.

Blake Snell, a Cy Young winner in 2018, was dealt after the 2020 World Series. Randy Arozarena, who delivered one of the greatest playoff runs in MLB history, was traded at the 2023 deadline. Wander Franco, the one player Sternberg extended long-term, is now absent indefinitely.

Low payrolls fueled the cycle. The Rays’ team salary routinely ranked in the bottom third of the league, forcing constant trades and budget-conscious decisions.

Then there’s Tropicana Field. With minimal renovations since 1998, the outdated stadium became one of the least appealing venues in the majors. Its St. Petersburg location, far from the population center of Tampa, only worsened attendance.

Sternberg pushed numerous stadium ideas — from a waterfront ballpark in St. Pete, to Ybor City, to even a split-season plan with Montreal — but none came to fruition.

The final straw came with Hurricane Milton. The Rays had struck a deal with St. Petersburg to build a new stadium in the Historic Gas Plant District. But when the storm destroyed Tropicana Field’s roof, and the city focused on repairs, the Rays backed out. Instead, they moved 2025 games to George M. Steinbrenner Field in Hillsborough County, straining ties with Pinellas and St. Petersburg. That decision ultimately opened the door for Rob Manfred to step in and nudge Sternberg toward selling to Zalupski’s group.

A Rays fan’s perspective

This part is my opinion. I’ve lived in Pinellas County my whole life. I’ve followed the Rays closely for years, gone to countless games at Tropicana Field and now Steinbrenner Field.

It’s easy to hate Sternberg for his ownership. It was sickening to sit in Tropicana Field and see rows of empty seats while the Rays competed at a high level. I blame Sternberg for a lot of that. His refusal to spend made it nearly impossible to be a casual fan.

Not everyone loves a team because of its clever strategies. Some fans just want an inviting ballpark and familiar faces. The Rays offered neither. Tropicana Field has its quirks, but it lacks the amenities of modern stadiums. And the roster churn stripped away attachment to players.

At the same time, I respect the “Rays way.” The scouting, development and trades I’ve seen over the years are incredible. That doesn’t happen without a strong organizational culture, something Sternberg built. But the commitment to winning cheap has capped the franchise. It kept the team from winning a World Series and from packing the stands.

Sternberg relied on cheap bandages, but the franchise’s core problems never healed. In a market full of transplants, Tampa Bay teams need bold moves to forge an identity. The Glazers did it with Tom Brady and a Super Bowl. Jeff Vinik did it by building the Lightning into a Stanley Cup dynasty.

Sternberg never gave the Rays that breakthrough. For Zalupski and his group, the path forward is clear: Spend more on players fans can connect with, and build a better ballpark — ideally on the Tampa side of the bay.

Sternberg did plenty of good. He gave me joy as a fan. But he also gave me years of frustration. And I hope some of that leaves with him.