Rays have potential buyers, both local and for relocation, interested in

At a time when the Rays appear closer than ever to completing their 15-year quest for a new ballpark in the Tampa Bay area, their options are only multiplying.

At least one local businessman is trying to buy the franchise, according to sources briefed on the discussions who were granted anonymity so they could speak candidly. The team also is drawing interest from groups that would relocate the club to one of the cities that is a candidate for major-league expansion.

Building a $1.2 billion ballpark in St. Petersburg or Tampa remains the Rays’ primary focus, however. Owner Stuart Sternberg is in talks with potential investors and other sources of capital that would help fund the project, the sources said.

The potential local buyer is Dan Doyle Jr., chief executive officer of DEX Imaging, a Tampa-based company that professes to be “the nation’s largest independent provider of office technology with a local touch.” Prior to starting the company in 2002, Doyle Jr. was the founder and managing partner of a real estate development and holding company in St. Petersburg.

Attempts to reach Doyle for comment were unsuccessful. The Rays declined comment to The Athletic on where their talks stand with Doyle and other potential buyers, but in response to this report, Sternberg told the Tampa Bay Times on Sunday: “I expect we will build a ballpark in Tampa Bay that will keep the Rays here for generations to come. I also plan on remaining the Rays owner.”

The expiration of the team’s lease at Tropicana Field after the 2027 season will force Sternberg to make decisions, one way or another, in the near future.

Commissioner Rob Manfred repeatedly has said the league will not expand to 32 franchises until the Rays and Athletics resolve their ballpark issues. The A’s, the team with the worst record in baseball, are trying to move to Las Vegas. The Rays, the team with the best record, hold far greater appeal as a relocation possibility.

The fee for an expansion club is expected to be at least $2 billion; Manfred mentioned the $2.2 billion range in 2021. The Rays likely would sell for a lesser amount, and a new owner would inherit one of the game’s best-run organizations while bypassing the uncertainty of the expansion process.

If the Rays departed, Tampa Bay would become a candidate for expansion, just as Oakland would be if the A’s left for Las Vegas. The A’s, though, are meeting resistance from Nevada lawmakers in their desire for public funding. The Rays could face the same obstacle in their efforts to remain in the Tampa Bay area.

In other ways, the two situations are not all that similar.

The Rays are making progress toward a new ballpark locally, particularly in St. Petersburg, where their discussions are more advanced than they are in Tampa. In addition, Manfred told the Tampa Bay Times, “I think we see the potential in the Tampa market…