ST. PETERSBURG — The Rays struck a surprising and curious deal to buy the Rowdies they say was made only to get into the soccer business and has no connection to the effort to find new home for their baseball team.
The deal includes at least short-term control of downtown waterfront Al Lang Stadium. The Rays tried a decade ago to get a new baseball stadium built there and never fully let go of the idea — which is why there was immediate speculation there was more to the Rays-Rowdies deal than just control of a soccer team.