Yankees spent millions upgrading their spring training facility, and relocated Rays couldn’t be happier

T he Yankees spent millions upgrading their spring training facility in Tampa, creating amenities for the players at Steinbrenner Field that appear to be better suited for a luxury hotel than a baseball stadium.

In all, 34,000 square feet of player/staff areas were remodeled or constructed over the last two years. The project included a 2,400-square foot outdoor dining patio, a high-ceiling indoor dining space, and a two-story weight room.

There’s a new room for team meetings with a floor-to-ceiling digital videoboard. The medical facilities include eight training tables, plunge pools, a SwimEx therapeutic pool, a sauna, and a red-light therapy room.

The players have a lounge with multiple televisions and arcade games, and the batting cages are enclosed and air-conditioned. The clubhouse also was fully renovated, and there’s a lounge for family members to use when they attend games.

The Tampa Bay Rays couldn’t be more appreciative.

The Rays play their final Grapefruit League game on March 24, then move to Steinbrenner Field to open the season on March 28 against the Rockies.

In a deal brokered by Major League Baseball, the Rays are paying $15 million to play in Tampa this season after the roof at Tropicana Field was shredded during a hurricane in October.

The damage throughout the park was so extensive that repairs could not be made before the season. So the Rays will pack up and play 21 miles away.

For those players and coaches who have homes in the area, the only adjustment will be a new route to work.

“This is the best we could have hoped for,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “We’ll have probably the best clubhouse situation in baseball. Having played for the Yankees, I knew it would be nice. But it’s beyond that.”

The Rays definitely will have it better than the Athletics, who will play in Sacramento the next three seasons in a Triple A ballpark. Their clubhouse will be beyond the fence in left field.

Pinstriped luxury aside, it’s not a perfect situation. Steinbrenner Field doesn’t have a roof and rainouts could become a problem given the frequent late afternoon showers in Florida during the summer.

MLB adjusted the schedule to put the Rays at home for 37 of their first 58 games when the weather is cooler, then on the road for 35 of 51 games in July and August to avoid the heat.

The agreement also encompasses only the regular season. It’s unclear where the Rays would host any playoff games.

Steinbrenner Field seats 11,000. The Rays averaged 16,515 last season, so there could be a demand for tickets. The Rays also won’t be able to use the Yankees team offices. They instead rented space in St. Petersburg.

The Yankees will be the visiting team at Steinbrenner Field for four games in April and two in August. The facilities for visiting teams, as is typical for spring training, are rudimentary. So as the Rays are living it up down the hall, Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole will be sitting on folding chairs.

Once spring training ends, the Rays have a plan to cover up all the Yankees logos and signage in the park and make it as much of a home atmosphere as they can.

But the Yankees made it clear that the statue of George Steinbrenner outside the main entrance to the ballpark will remain.

The Single A Tampa Tarpons will suffer the most. They will play their home games on a 1,100-seat practice field outside of the stadium next to some tennis courts and will use a locker room across the street at the team’s minor league complex.

Red Sox have some weapons

The Sox have not had a pitcher reach 100 miles per hour since Kaleb Ort in 2022. There were 7,242 pitches thrown at least 100 m.p.h. in the majors from 2023-24. Every team had at least one triple-digit pitch except the Sox.

That will change quickly with Aroldis Chapman on the roster. Luis Guerrero could have something to say about it, too.

The 24-year-old righthander topped out at 98.6 m.p.h. in the majors last season, but hit 102 in the minors. He has become a workout partner with Chapman this spring.

“He’s a good kid. He’s a kid who really likes to put in the work and that’s something I appreciate,” Chapman said. “He’s got a bright future.”

Guerrero, a Dominican who grew up in Boston , was thrilled when the Sox signed Chapman.

“That’s somebody I can learn from,” he said. “I’m watching everything he does.”

▪ With Brayan Bello and Kutter Crawford likely to open the season on the injured list, the Red Sox need starters.

Richard Fitts has his hand raised.

The 25-year-old righthander allowed four earned runs over 20⅔ innings in four starts last September, showing the Sox he had something to offer.

He shut out the Phillies for two innings on Friday, striking out Brandon Marsh , Johan Rojas , and Alec Bohm among the way. Fitts averaged 97.1 m.p.h. with his four-seam fastball, a big jump from 94.5 last season.

He hit 99 on a pitch to Bryce Harper , which Harper grounded into right field for a single.

At6 feet 3 inches, 230 pounds, Fitts has discovered another gear. It will be interesting to see where that takes him.

▪ Catcher Carlos Narváez , who’s competing to be the backup to Connor Wong , has a big fan in Yankees manager Aaron Boone .

Narváez, 26, was with the Yankees for nine years after signing out of Venezuela and made his major league debut last season, appearing in six games.

Because they have good organizational depth behind the plate, the Yankees traded Narváez to the Sox in December for righthander Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz , a fourth-round pick in 2021.

“We traded away a good one,” Boone said. “Amazing person, smart and really good behind the plate. Honestly, that was tough moving him. He’s an impressive kid.”

▪ New infield coach José Flores has been a positive presence in camp, bringing more energy to drills than in previous years.

“Flo has been great,” manager Alex Cora said. “We’ve tried a lot of different things the last few years. You have to keep working at it.”

Instead of having coaches use a fungo bat to hit grounders, Flores prefers flipping balls to coaches using a regular bat to slap balls at the fielders. It creates more game-like conditions.

▪ Koji Uehara , who works for several media companies in Japan, visited Fenway South on Wednesday. He posed for a photo with pitching coach Andrew Bailey , a teammate in 2013.

As the Sox contemplate who will close this season, it’s worth remembering that Joel Hanrahan had the job to open the ‘13 season before becoming injured. Then Bailey took over until a shoulder injury ended his season.

Uehara didn’t have his first save until May 17 and went on to have one of the best seasons for a closer in Sox history.

As the Sox work through who will close, the best candidate may not emerge until well into the season.

▪ Pedro Martinez spent a few days around Red Sox camp as somewhat of a minister-without-portfolio. His job was to be Pedro.

Martinez was spotted having long chats with Brayan Bello , Miguel Bleis , Walker Buehler , Jhostynxon Garcia , and Ceddanne Rafaela .

Martinez was in the bullpen on Friday watching Bello pitch. He offered several suggestions about the righthander’s stride.

“It feels great to have Pedro here,” Bello said via a team translator. “I’ve been talking to him for a while, even before coming here to spring training, talking about mechanics. Having a guy like that is a privilege. Not everyone has that chance to learn from one of the greats.”

▪ Notable former Sox players who are still free agents: Daniel Bard , Matt Barnes , Adam Duvall , Jose Iglesias , Joe Kelly , Craig Kimbrel , J.D. Martinez , and Alex Verdugo .

Verdugo was a 3.0 WAR player for the Dodgers over 106 games in 2019. He was 0.8 in 149 games for the Yankees last season and they showed no interest in having him return.

The Sox did well to get Fitts, Greg Weissert , and 23-year-old Nicholas Judice for Verdugo before the ‘24 season .

▪ Most players kill idle time in the clubhouse by looking at their phones or watching television. But there are still a few, usually older, who work on crossword puzzles. Every clubhouse has copies of the day’s puzzle, usually from USA Today, and pencils available.

Liam Hendriks takes it seriously. He even set up a small table in front of his locker where he can sit and work on the puzzle.

▪ Fittingly, the Red Sox and WEEI celebrated the retirement of Hall of Famer Joe Castiglione last September. But there has been no announcement that Will Flemming replaced Castiglione as the lead voice on the radio.

It’s a big achievement for Flemming, who spent six seasons working with Castiglione. He’s now part of a legacy that includes Curt Gowdy , Ned Martin , and Ken Coleman .

▪ Sign of the times: An auxiliary scoreboard at JetBlue Park shows pitch type, velocity, vertical break, and horizontal break. There was a time the Sox wouldn’t turn the velocity readings on during spring training. Now, the data is everywhere.

▪ The Yankees have decided to play “New York, New York” only after victories . There will be a selection of different songs after a loss. In that vein, perhaps the Red Sox should refrain from “Sweet Caroline” when they’re down by five or more runs?

There’s nothing “so good” about losing by a bunch of runs. The college kids and tourists can always catch another game.

Yankees have faith in Rice

Ben Rice became a tabloid sensation in New York when he hit five home runs and drove in 10 runs during a five-game stretch in July. Three of the homers came against the Red Sox on July 6 at Yankee Stadium. But the 26-year-old first baseman and catcher from Cohasset hit .109 the rest of the season, striking out 35 times in 109 plate appearances.

Rice went home and got stronger, and the Yankees believe he’s going to make a significant impact this season.

“I’m excited about Ben. I think he’s going to be a really good hitter in the league. I really do,” manager Aaron Boone said. “He’s made huge strides in his body this winter. He added really good weight and strength, and it shows up in his testing.”

Rice caught only one inning in the majors last season but is getting regular work in spring training. He was primarily a catcher in the minors.

“He could be a factor in a lot of ways, certainly in a catching role,” Boone said. “He continues to impress us with the work he’s doing behind the plate.”

The Yankees see Rice as a player who could catch, play first, and DH. He may not be on the major league roster to open the season but should contribute at some point.

“I think Ben’s very real as a hitter,” Boone said.

Extra bases

As Major League Baseball experiments with a challenge system for balls and strikes in spring training, Reds manager Terry Francona has told his players not to participate. He would prefer they stay focused on preparing for the season rather than a system that won’t be used until 2026 at the earliest. Francona will let minor league players who have experience with the system challenge calls … Kyle Finnegan had a strange offseason. The 33-year-old righthander was an All-Star for the Nationals last season and had a career-best 38 saves. But he was non-tendered in November, the team unwilling to pay his projected salary of $8.6 million after a shaky second half of the season. Finnegan went unsigned until last week when he returned to the Nats for $6 million … Jose Iglesias hit .337 with an .830 OPS over 85 games for the Mets last season and was an above-average defensive infielder. But president of baseball operations David Stearns seems not to want Iglesias back, even after utility infielder Nick Madrigal was lost for the season with a fractured left shoulder. Stearns would prefer a player with minor league options so the Mets have better roster flexibility. Iglesias, 35, is waiting in Miami for a call … Nate Eovaldi , who already throws five pitches, is working on a sinker that would give him a different look against righthanded hitters. Eovaldi is 24-13 with a 3.72 ERA over 54 starts for the Rangers since the Red Sox didn’t make much of an effort to retain him after the 2022 season … The Rays already have decided Shane McClanahan will start on Opening Day against the Rockies despite his not having pitched in a major league game since Aug. 2, 2023. He missed all of last season recovering from Tommy John surgery … The downfall of Andrew Benintendi continues. A fractured right hand, the result of being hit by a pitch, will put him on the injured list to start the season. Benintendi has been a league-average hitter with the Royals, Yankees, and White Sox since the Red Sox traded him to Kansas City before the 2021 season. But he did manage to land a $75 million contract from the White Sox that has aged terribly … The Yankees invited 24-year-old righthander Cam Schlittler to spring training as a non-roster player. The former Walpole High and Northeastern player was a seventh-round pick in 2022 and advanced to Triple A last season. He threw two scoreless innings against the Tigers last Sunday and struck out two … All the best to Mike DiGiovanna , a native of East Lyme, Conn., who made his way to California and covered baseball for the Los Angeles Times the last 30 years. He retired this week and will be missed in the press box … Happy birthday to Don Schwall , who is 89. The righthander debuted with the Red Sox in 1961, going 15-7 with a 3.22 ERA over 25 starts. He was the American League Rookie of the Year and allowed one run over three innings in the All-Star Game at Fenway Park , striking out Stan Musial along the way. But Schwall was traded to the Pirates after the 1962 season and his baseball career was finished by 1967 after two seasons with the Braves. He went into finance from there. Schwall’s time in baseball was eventful as he played with Hall of Famers Carl Yastrzemski , Roberto Clemente , and Hank Aaron .