Rays break silence on lawsuit filed by limited partners

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The Tampa Bay Rays say the latest lawsuit filed by a group of limited partners who accuse Stuart Sternberg of wrongfully taking control of the team is a continuation of a “meritless and relentless campaign” against the club and its principal owner.

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This article was published 08/07/2022 (1221 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The Tampa Bay Rays say the latest lawsuit filed by a group of limited partners who accuse Stuart Sternberg of wrongfully taking control of the team is a continuation of a “meritless and relentless campaign” against the club and its principal owner.

“They have deployed multiple baseless lawsuits premised on allegations they know are untrue in order to pressure the team and Stuart Sternberg to purchase their interests – which is a right they do not have,” the team said Friday in a statement.

The lawsuit filed in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court on June 27 alleges Sternberg transferred legal ownership to a company he owns without the consent of five limited partners, who together own less than 10% of the team.

Tropicana Field is viewed after a baseball game, June 5, 2022, in St. Petersburg, Fla. The mayor of St. Petersburg, Florida, is reopening talks about the future of the Tropicana Field site where baseball's Tampa Bay Rays play their home games. Mayor Ken Welch said Wednesday, June 29, 2022 that two previous proposals for the 86-acre (348,000-square-meter) downtown location are being scrapped, with a new round of plans to be solicited beginning in mid-August. Welch, St. Petersburg's first Black mayor, has made a priority of including such things as affordable housing and greater job opportunities along with Rays baseball. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, file)
Tropicana Field is viewed after a baseball game, June 5, 2022, in St. Petersburg, Fla. The mayor of St. Petersburg, Florida, is reopening talks about the future of the Tropicana Field site where baseball's Tampa Bay Rays play their home games. Mayor Ken Welch said Wednesday, June 29, 2022 that two previous proposals for the 86-acre (348,000-square-meter) downtown location are being scrapped, with a new round of plans to be solicited beginning in mid-August. Welch, St. Petersburg's first Black mayor, has made a priority of including such things as affordable housing and greater job opportunities along with Rays baseball. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, file)

Similar suits were filed by the limited partners in May 2021 and February 2022.

“Ultimately, what compels us to respond is the fact that the latest complaint contains numerous allegations that the plaintiffs know are false. These intentionally false claims are designed to harm the Rays organization at a time when we are actively engaged in efforts to build a new ballpark in Tampa Bay,” the team statement said.

“The allegation that a simple and commonplace corporate reorganization stripped the limited partners of the value of their investments and their rights and protections is patently false, and the limited partners know that,” the Rays added. “The reorganization was approved by Major League Baseball and the team’s lenders, among others. It had no impact on any aspect of the limited partners’ ownership interests or partnership rights.”

The partners responded with a statement accusing Sternberg and the Rays of “a public character assassination of these limited partners for exercising their legal rights under Florida statutory and common law.”

“Our clients stand by their claims and have certainly never made any allegations that they know to be false,” the limited partners said. “The current suit is on behalf of the limited partners against Sternberg personally and Rays Baseball Club, based on recently discovered information that had been previously concealed from the limited partners.”

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