The last seven games have been quite a nice sample size of the Tampa Bay Rays 2025 season. The Rays enter Friday night's matchup against the St. Louis Cardinals losers of four straight. Before that, Tampa Bay won three straight. As the team continues playing their home games at George M. Steinbrenner Field, it's clear that playing here for another season or longer would be problematic. Luckily, the team's home, Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, should be completed in the next few months. The City of St. Petersburg shared via X (formerly Twitter) that the first of the Trop's roof panels are being installed this week.
Roof repairs at Tropicana Field are well underway! The first of 24 roof panels is being installed this week, and the project is on track for completion by the end of December.
Stay tuned for more updates, St. Pete! pic.twitter.com/EKKzWKDKnq
— St. Petersburg, FL (@StPeteFL) August 22, 2025
“Roof repairs at Tropicana Field are well underway!” posted the city's official account on Friday. “The first of 24 roof panels is being installed this week, and the project is on track for completion by the end of December. Stay tuned for more updates, St. Pete!”
If the timeline that the city shared is correct, then the Rays should be back in their home by the new year. It would give the Rays organization and its fans the only stadium its ever known back. While Tampa Bay likely won't be playing in the Trop for too much longer, it's much better than playing at Steinbrenner. Nevertheless, the Rays will finish this season at the New York Yankees' spring training home. Can they finish 2025 on a high note?
Rays' stint at Steinbrenner Field has been up and down

While the Rays have been able to use the dimensions of Steinbrenner Field to their advantage for most of the season, so have their opponents. The stadium usually plays host to the Yankees' Low-A affiliate in addition to spring training, but the minor leaguers are playing across the street at New York's minor-league complex. So, it's safe to say that even though the Rays now have a good amount of experience hitting at what fans call “Trop East,” their opponents do as well. After all, Steinbrenner is essentially a little version of Yankee Stadium.
Nevertheless, it was fun to consider how the Rays would host postseason baseball there earlier this summer. For most of the season's first half, they were vying for an AL playoff spot. In fact, they weren't too far away from the Yankees' division lead back in the first half. Now, as the team has fallen slowly apart, they can look forward to returning to Tropicana Field once again next season.