The Tampa Bay Rays have received permission from Major League Baseball's executive council to explore a plan in which they would play early-season home games in the Tampa Bay area and the remainder of the year in Montreal, commissioner Rob Manfred said Thursday.
While the plan is in its nascent stages, the Rays have embraced the two-city solution as the most feasible to saving baseball in the Tampa Bay area after years of failed attempts to build a new stadium in the region, sources told ESPN's Jeff Passan.
Under the plan, the Rays would play in new stadiums in both the Tampa Bay area and Montreal, sources said.