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Fans wear Montreal Expos uniforms as they watch the Toronto Blue Jays in a pre-season baseball game against the New York Mets in MontrealRyan Remiorz/The Canadian Press

The Tampa Bay Rays are looking for a new manager, not a new home, according to team owner Stuart Sternberg.

In a brief statement released on Monday, the Rays responded to reports over the weekend that Sternberg was in talks with Wall Street financiers about moving the team to Montreal.

"We are committed to making baseball work in the Tampa Bay region. We will do everything we can to make that happen and right now things are moving in a productive and positive direction. We have not spoken to Montreal – or any other city, including Tampa – about relocation at any point."

The Los Angeles Times quoted outgoing commissioner Bud Selig as saying that Sternberg had not informed him of any interest in moving the team out of Tampa Bay.

The news of a potential relocation comes on the heels of manager Joe Maddon's decision to opt-out of his contract with the team after nine seasons following the departure of general manager Andrew Friedman, who left to take over the baseball operations of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Sternberg has been frustrated in his efforts to get a new stadium deal but according to the Tampa Bay Times, St. Petersburg officials are hopeful an agreement can be in place by year's end.

Montreal has been without a major league franchise since the Expos relocated to Washington in 2005. The New York Daily News quoted an unnamed major league official as saying, "Say what you will about Montreal but the Expos drew well over two million fans four times in their heydey, while the Rays did that only once, in their first year."

More than 96,000 fans turned out at Olympic Stadium this past spring to watch a pair of exhibition games between the Blue Jays and New York Mets.

The success of those games caught the attention of Major League Baseball with Selig saying recently that Montreal would make "an excellent candidate" for future franchise. Former Expo Warren Cromartie is part of a group called the Montreal Baseball Project attempting to bring major league baseball back to the city.

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