$450 million is a cheap price to steal and repurpose the Sydney Opera House.

If you build it, they still won't come (unless the Yankees or Red Sox are in town).

[www.sptimes.com]

better picture of the "ship"

That works out to like $45M per fan...

So what happens when Hurricane Will comes to town?

I forsee no problem with this

/ratner

The ship is capsizing right?

And don't worry about that sail thing becoming a projectile in a hurricane. Tampa Bay hasn't been hit with a hurricane in like 90 years.

/knocks on wood

Peter Sarsgaard approves of ye pirate ship.

Delmon Young is going to bury his booty in right field and mark it with an 'X' before he leaves town.

The players are hoping the new field will help increase their ARRRRRR-BIs.

/I'll go now

They should let the team play on an un-manned oil rig in the bay. That way the name makes more sense and attendance will stay about the same.

Will there be scurvy then?

In other news, the City of Seattle has announced plans for a major overhaul of KeyArena...

@McCroskey: Matt GARRRRRRza is very excited to be a Ray.

Retractable fabric sails? Are they planning on sailing this thing to Houston for interleague games?

Yarrrrrr tiss a crap-tacular vessel.

/Sea Captain

it's popping a tent!

Bob Ross painted that in 12 minutes.

Not to be outdone, the Mets new stadium will fully collapse every September.

Yo Dawg, Elijah Dukes don't do no ship, I ain't even bulshitting.

Will it have cannons so it can battle with Raymond James Stadium?

When was Tropicana built? Does it make sense for this crap-tacular team to have a new stadium?

as an architect, i say "eh." the roof is a cool idea but i hope when it's raining the wind never comes in from the water, otherwise rain is going to blow under the roof since it's got an open back 500 feet tall.

@Shea Guevara: I thought "Carmen Sandiego Architects" sounded fishy.

Bob Ross painted that in 12 minutes.

Except there's no happy anything involved with the Devil Rays.

@McCroskey: haha you can stay, I LOL'd

Is this to fool people into thinking they're going to a Bucs game?

Can they make it more like Jabba's sail barge?

The fuck is a hurricane?

@Rob Iracane: Probably going to Honah Lee...

[en.wikipedia.org]

Tragically, the stadium will sink shortly after being built due to a devastating broadside strafing by Raymond James Stadium.

Oh, well *this* will make Matt Garza feel better.

The Rays can't do much worse even if they are wearing eye patches

Fred Smoot is working on his fielding and has already requested a trade.

All Somalians know that cruise ships make the best pirate ships.

I forsee no shortage of Cabin Boys.

Does this mean Jim Hickey [deadspin.com] will now be loading up on rum before running rough shot into fellow employees vehicles?

Actually Vegas is building this stadium as a pirate-ship-themed hotel-casino. And the Rays will play there, too, when Siegfried & Roy aren't in town.

If I know baseball-loving-retirees, if there is one thing they love, it's pirates.

That, and Paul Harvey.

Am I the only one trying to figure out what a pirate ship has to do with a horrible baseball team named after a fish?

@The Man with No Name: The Trop has proven to be unsuitable for any of the purposes it has served during its short, sad lifetime.*

*: It may actually be a perfect venue for a Promise Keepers rally.

$450 million is more than the Rays' cumulative payroll since their inaugural year.

They're only doing this so they can trick all the retirees into going to Rays games -- they'll think they're going on a cruise.

@The Legend of Vincent Tremblay: Can we blow it up during said rally, please?

Handsome Pete will be dancing for nickels outside on game days.

@Gourmet Spud:

but not robots, because they're strong, and made of metal.

Is it more an indictment of the stadium plan or the drawing itself that all I can see in that picture are a bunch of buildings and docked boats? Is this a magic eye thing?

Yet another reason we should sever the state of Florida and shove it off to sea.

That is the most impressive minor league stadium I have ever seen.

@Big Daddy Drew: Considering the quality of play over the last 15 years, I'd say the teams are interchangeable.

They tried a retractable roof with fabric and cables in Montréal at Stade Olympique. See how well that worked out. The Expos moved to Washington. You think we want the NotDevil Rays here now too? Funk that! We can only resurrect one crappy franchise per century.

@Sex-Panther: He sent a photo of a cannon to the ballpark architect

@Ihateyourteam:

+1.

...it was rated AAAAAAARRRRR.

/sorry