Tampa Bay Rays say ballpark deal near collapse as Pinellas delays vote again

The Tampa Bay Rays’ much-talked about deal to bring a new stadium to downtown St. Petersburg is in serious jeopardy after the team sent a letter to Pinellas County officials Tuesday saying it had halted all work on the project.

The letter was sent hours before the Pinellas County Commission voted to again delay a decision on issuing bonds to help fund the construction of a new ballpark for the team. The letter also triggered several commissioners to accuse the team of looking to renegotiate what was recently celebrated as a landmark deal.