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Yankees have ‘odd’ visitors experience in own Tampa home

By
Greg Joyce
Published April 17, 2025, 10:33 p.m. ET

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TAMPA — The Yankees walked into a familiar building Thursday for an unfamiliar task: playing a game that counted.

That was just the tip of the iceberg in the strangeness of playing a regular-season series at their spring training home, George M. Steinbrenner Field, which now belongs to the Rays for this season after the roof was torn off Tropicana Field by Hurricane Milton last October.

There also was the fact that the Yankees walked into the cramped visitors clubhouse with no access to the more spacious home clubhouse or all the new facilities and amenities beyond it that underwent an overhaul last offseason.

There was all-new Rays signage anywhere a Yankees logo had been, with the familiar “YANKEES” banners down each baseline replaced by “RAYS,” with a logo and two ads on either end.

Aaron Judge runs onto the field before a baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays at George M. Steinbrenner Field Thursday, April 17, 2025, in Tampa, Fla.
Aaron Judge runs onto the field before they Yankees’ 6-3 win over the Rays at George M. Steinbrenner Field on April 17, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. AP

There was even a new kind of dirt in the infield that was more in line with the playing surface at Tropicana Field than what the Yankees played on all spring.

“It’s been quite odd, honestly,” manager Aaron Boone said from the visitors dugout, across the way from his regular post each spring and before the Yankees’ 6-3 win. “I don’t know if surreal’s the right word, but it’s definitely a little bit odd. I’m sure once the game starts, looking around at the stadium, ‘Oh, it’s real. It’s a real game.’ But we’ll be ready to go.”

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge (99) shakes hands with Tampa Bay Rays mascot Raymond before the game at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
Aaron Judge shakes hands with the Rays mascot Raymond before the Yankees’ win over the Rays. Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

There was, of course, some familiarity to it. The statue of George Steinbrenner just outside the stadium remained untouched.

The outfield dimensions still mirrored Yankee Stadium. Hal Steinbrenner still has his suite here.

But inside the home clubhouse, where the Yankees just spent six weeks of spring training, Shane Baz resided in Aaron Judge’s corner locker, Junior Caminero had Giancarlo Stanton’s and Shane McClanahan took over Gerrit Cole’s.

There was a new fishing pole rack on the wall between what was Cole and Carlos Rodon’s lockers, a dart board across the way, a rotating mannequin sporting the uniform the Rays were wearing Thursday and a Rays tarp covering up the giant Yankees logo that hung from the ceiling.

“It took an act of God and Mother Nature to put us in this situation,” Rays right-hander Drew Rasmussen said. “We are grateful and thankful to [the Yankees], which is a funny thing to say, for allowing us to use the facility. But also, as far as this regular season goes, this is our home, not theirs. So they have the opportunity to use it every spring. It’s got Steinbrenner written on the stadium itself, but they have given us the permission to call this home, and that’s what we’re doing.”

Boone described the Yankees opening the doors to Steinbrenner Field to the Rays — who are paying the Yankees $15 million for the accommodations — as “the right thing to do on all fronts,” given what happened to Tropicana Field.

Tampa Bay Rays wraps over New York Yankees signs at George M. Steinbrenner Field during a stadium tour Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Tampa, Fla.
Tampa Bay Rays wraps over Yankees signs at George M. Steinbrenner Field during a stadium tour Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. AP

But it also gave the Rays an upgrade from the behind-the-scenes facilities they had been using at their old home.

“A lot flashier, a lot more new,” former Yankee and current Rays catcher Ben Rortvedt said. “We’re extremely grateful and super glad that it worked out here. The facilities are definitely nicer and more up to date, so there’s things here that we probably didn’t have at the Trop. We all miss the Trop. The Trop was a place we’ve called home for forever. Not a lot of people loved the Trop as an away team, but when it’s your home field, it’s something you take pride in.”

Multiple Rays mentioned how nice it was to be able to see the sun in their new digs, whether it was in the open-air gym, the cafeteria with outdoor seating or the state-of-the-art training room with big windows.

New York Yankees second base Jazz Chisholm Jr. (13) attempts to tag out Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Richie Palacios (1) as he slides in safe during the third inning at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. attempts to tag out Richie Palacios as he slides in safe during the third inning of the Yankees’ 6-3 win over the Rays on April 17, 2025. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

“We can actually look outside and see what time it is,” Rortvedt said.

Boone also left Rays manager Kevin Cash a note in the home manager’s office, and on Thursday, he sent him a bottle of tequila as a belated housewarming gift.

But Once the game began Thursday night, the niceties and weirdness of the situation were expected to dissipate, with four real games that counted in the standings set to take place.

“To have that as a spring training [facility] now is really awesome, and guys really took advantage of it this year,” Boone said. “But your mind switches to, once you leave, we know we’re in the season. We know what was expected.”