Tampa Bay Rays Open Tropicana Field to Voluntary Workouts

The Tampa Bay Rays have announced they will host voluntary workouts at Tropicana Field on Monday.

The Tampa Bay Rays have announced they will be hosting optional workouts for players still in the area on Monday. While uncertainty hangs in the air like the mid-summer humidity of the baseball world, this is a small step in the right direction for those that would like to see baseball resume.

Rays officials made it very clear that the workouts are completely voluntary for both coaches and players and that social distancing guidelines will be utilized.

The Marlins were the only other team to announce they would also be hosting voluntary workouts thus far.

The announcement comes about a week after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared that professional sports teams are clear to resume activities. Last month, the Governor deemed sports as essential services.

Florida is in the midst of Phase One of the plan to re-open and it appears the baseball teams are taking the offer.

Some players will most likely not be attending the workouts as Yoshitomo Tsutsugo, Ji-Man Choi, and others are awaiting the all-clear from their hometowns/countries. Tsutsugo is in Japan, Choi in Korea, and even Blake Snell is at home in Seattle.

We have no idea if players will await an agreement between the MLBPA and the owners on the current money issues that are hanging over the prospect of a 2020 season. However, we hope that this is a good sign. It’s a good feeling to know that there are at least some Tampa Bay Rays throwing a baseball around at the Trop…even if they have to wipe it off with a disinfectant wipe after every toss.

The team did not have any information on which players were still in the Tampa area or if any of them would be traveling back for the optional workouts.