* “Trying and failing will yield less regret than failing to try.”–Lightning GM Julien BriseBoise, on why it’s worth gambling at the trade deadline.
* Oakland, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay: The only MLB teams never to finish with a $100 million payroll. Last year the New York Mets had a payroll of $333 million. That’s what happens without a salary cap that the other major pro sports have. In effect, baseball teams play by different rules.
* Local groups have expressed serious interest in buying the Rays. But relocation is still in the mix: and not just relocating to Tampa, the market hub, where it has always belonged, but Orlando, the largest media market in the U.S. without an MLB team. It also seems more receptive to public spending than Tampa-Hillsborough. BTW, among those major development players still silent on any baseball scenarios for Tampa: Jeff Vinik.