Possible new Spring Training home...

[efin98]

This has been news for a bit but Sarasota, FL is trying to win away the Red Sox from Fort Myers due to the impending departure of the Reds. There is also a grass roots movement supposedly going on in Vero Beach to bring the Red Sox in to replace the departing Dodgers as well. The team has history in the city- the Red Sox played there from '33-'42 and '46-'58 so it would be returning to where many of the greats of the past got their start with the team...

Anyone have any thoughts on the possibility of moving out of Fort Myers into another city for Spring Training?

[efin98]

Update on the situation: deal to move to Sarasota never materialized and finally was killed in late September. Lee County went out and got a deal approved on October 28th and later signed by the team on November 1st that would keep the team in the county for 30 years with them building a new ballpark with capacity at 10,000 seated and 12,000 with standing room and berm seating. Dimensions would mimic Fenway Park's dimensions so players would get a feel for playing in Fenway. The new park will open for the 2012 Spring Training.

The biggest factor in the deal is that it includes a major feature of all modern Spring Training facilities: practice facilities within the complex as opposed to being about a mile or two away as would be the case with Sarasota and currently the problem with City of Palms Park.

The deal could affect another team as the county could lure another team to move into the old Red Sox facility making it a three team city, possibly the Orioles.