MLB rebuffs Montreal’s offer to host games as Irma nears

Montreal has renewed its offer to Major League Baseball to help out in the wake of hurricane Irma, but was politely refused.

A person with knowledge of the city’s offer told The Canadian Press late Thursday that the city of Montreal made an offer to host the coming three-game series between the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays.

Scheduled to be held in Tampa Bay between Sept. 11 and 13, the series will instead be held at Citi Field in New York.

A spokesperson for MLB said in an email Friday the availability of a sufficient number of hotel rooms in New York City was behind the choice.

The three baseball games will be played Monday night, Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon.

Irma is expected to hit Florida some time today and despite some fluctuations in strength, it will likely stay a Category 4 hurricane.

A spokesman for the MLB commissioner’s office said late Thursday that if the series were to be moved, it wouldn’t take place in Montreal.

The timing wouldn’t leave Montreal with the roughly five days needed to convert Olympic Stadium to host baseball.

Montreal also offered to help when the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers had to move their series last week because of hurricane Harvey.

The three games were ultimately held at Tropicana Field, home of the Rays, between Aug. 29 and 31.