Chris Archer has spent his entire seven-year career with the Tampa Bay Rays.
He has watched teammates, including franchise icons like Evan Longoria and David Price, come and go. He's endured much more losing than winning, and many nights with sparse crowds at Tropicana Field.
Still, Archer has long expressed his desire to remain with the Rays, even despite numerous trade rumors. But he does believe some sort of change could be necessary for the club to be successful. Longoria said earlier this week that the best decision might be to move the team, and while Archer wants the Rays to remain in the Tampa area, he also believes St. Petersburg and Tropicana Field might not be the greatest place for professional baseball.
"Everybody is entitled to their opinion. (Longoria) spent a long time here so he has firsthand information that not a lot of people can provide," Archer said, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. "He was here when the team was not very good and when the team was really good and when the team was just mediocre. He's seen all the phases. So if that's his assessment of it, that's his assessment.
"As far as I go, I love St. Pete. That's why I live in St. Pete. That's (why) I own property in St. Pete. That's why my parents live in St. Pete during the season. But, you know, the track record says it's tough for us to draw fans. I don't know where the move should be, but I think maybe a change is necessary."
Tropicana Field has long been criticized not only for the aesthetics of the building but also the location. The club ranked last in the majors in attendance from 2012-2017 and ranks second-last (14,710) this season. When it won 92 games in 2013, it averaged just 18,645 fans.
"I think Tampa-St. Pete, it's a huge market. St. Petersburg, we've had 20 years," Archer said. "And even when we made the playoffs, we were last in attendance. Just like Longo said, we have some great fans out there, just we're not as densely populated as these other major cities, which makes it more challenging to get new heads into the stadium every game like New York, Boston, L.A. So maybe a move would help that. And hopefully, if the team did move to Tampa, we would be able to still draw some of that St. Pete crowd, and get some people from Orlando, and north Tampa."
The Rays have been in talks about potentially building a new stadium in the Ybor City neighborhood in Tampa, though Longoria suggested the team build a new stadium with a retractable roof and real grass next to where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers play.
"They should build a stadium that looks just like Houston, or very similar," Longoria said. "You can't play outside there (in Tampa Bay), it has to be a retractable. And obviously, it should be grass. If you can do it in Houston you can do it in Florida - you can grow grass in Florida indoors."
