Selig Thinks Baseball Can Work in Tampa Bay...Maybe Because it's Currently Working in Tampa Bay?

In his annual All-Star Weekend press avail, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig reminded us he is still un-intervening in the Rays' Stadium Saga {link to Times' site}:

"It's obvious they need a new stadium," Selig said. "It's no secret. … All you have to do is look at the daily attendance figures, the attendance figure to date this year, … and you can see what they need."

Despite MLB-worst attendance — an average of 16,902 that is barely half of the MLB average (30,028), Selig said, "The demographics in the market are good, I have no question about that."

Asked later if that meant he felt that baseball can work in the market, he told the Tampa Bay Times, "I'm sure it can, but talk to Stu Sternberg."

For what its worth, Sternberg emailed the Times later and said he was optimistic of the progress with Mayor Rick Kriseman at the helm of St. Pete.

Selig also said Montreal was an "excellent candidate" to land another MLB team sometime, but wouldn't elaborate.  Why?

Because, of course, he's confident baseball can work in Tampa Bay, as long as the Rays get a new stadium!

My response would be, "is baseball working in Tampa Bay right now?"  Because the team is turning a profit, it's usually competitive, and its TV ratings are high enough the team will get a huge windfall in 2017....it would seem to be working.

So then, Mr. Commissioner, at what point would baseball in Tampa Bay stop working without a new stadium?  Are we talking 2015 or 2025?  Because that's a big difference to the taxpayers being asked to figure it out and shell out the cash.

Anyway, the latest headlines are not worth getting worked up about - they're really just fodder for sports talk guys so they can make bold statements like "it is time to quit playing around and address the Rays stadium issue once and for all" because "Montreal could be back in the baseball business by 2027."

Because we only have 13 years to solve this problem!!!