Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred says that league officials and team owners believe a sharing plan between Montreal and Tampa Bay is "100 per cent" the best way to keep the team in Florida.

"People continue to believe that the two-city alternative they’re exploring is viable and could be a really good solution for keeping baseball in Tampa Bay," he explained to the Tampa Bay Times on Thursday after a scheduled owners meeting. "I continue to be impressed by the energy that they've devoted to the project. 

"And to the fact there is significant receptivity among our group, and excitement in some quarters about the possibility."

Manfred added that Rays owner Stuart Sternberg made a strong case to the owners. "I am 100 per cent convinced and, more importantly, the other owners have been convinced by Stu, that this is best way to keep Major League Baseball in Tampa Bay," he said.

MLB's potential return to Montreal is on hold until at least 2028 after St. Petersburg Rick Kriseman said last December that negotiations to split the Rays' home dates have ended.

The Rays and a Montreal group headed by Stephen Bronfman were in discussions about a shared season, with the team playing half of its 81 home games in each location. Sternberg said last June that an ideal scenario would see new open-air stadiums in both cities ready for use in the 2024 season.

The Rays have played at Tropicana Field since their inception in 1998 and had the second-lowest attendance in Major League Baseball last season.

"We have shown great commitment to the Tampa Bay market," Manfred said on Thursday. "I'm open to whatever alternatives. But I think it's unfair to expect that you can proceed full speed on different alternatives. Right now the focus is on the two-city alternative."