Dodgertown and Holman Stadium, which will sit empty during Spring Training 2009, may be even quieter after Aramark basically shuts down operations at the Dodgertown Sports and Conference Center in Vero Beach. Aramark served notice to the state that 98 employees would be laid off — which, we’ve been told, is basically the entire workforce […]
Red Sox signs deal to keep spring training in Lee County
After months of flirtation with Sarasota, the Boston Red Sox decided to go with the sure thing and signed a 30-year lease to keep spring training in Lee County in a new facility. Sarasota had aggressively courted the Red Sox and were close to a deal until officials decided to demand $10 million upfront from […]
Indians, Marlins, Cards schedules posted
We’ve posted schedules for the Cleveland Indians, Florida Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals. They’re tentative, but we’re pretty confident they will hold up. You can expect teams to begin releasing schedules now that the World Series is near an end. Besides these teams, we’ve also posted partials for the Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, Seattle […]
Key votes scheduled for future of spring training in Sarasota, Fort Myers
To say the future of spring training for two teams and three cities will be determined in the next three days is an understatement, as Lee County officials debate an $80-million deal to keep the Boston Red Sox and Sarasota officials look for $10 million to close an $80-million deal for a downtown facility at […]
Ft. Myers newspaper: John Henry just doesn’t like town, so BoSox will move
The Fort Myers newspaper has decided why the Boston Red Sox are looking at spring-training operations to Sarasota: it’s not because of the promise of a new ballpark or land for limited development — it’s the fact co-owner John Henry reportedly would prefer to spend February and March in Sarasota because he finds Fort Myers […]
ChiSox could train in Glendale, play at TEP
With spring training slated to be almost a week longer than normal in 2009, the Chicago White Sox are looking at a plan that would have them train at a new complex in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale and fulfill their lease obligations at Tucson Electric Park by busing in players for “home games” while […]
Sarasota and Red Sox to begin formal negotiations Friday; Lee County pitches four new training sites
The Boston Red Sox and Sarasota county and city officials will begin formal negotiations over the funding and design of a new spring-training ballpark and training complex, with the first sitdown meeting slated for 9 a.m. Friday. The two sides have been trading proposals for the last month and spent a rather engaging evening in […]
Plan for Stadium Village in Surprise collapses
Plans for a Stadium Village next to Surprise Stadium are on hold after the foreclosure on six acres of land next to the ballpark. The plan was an ambitious 70-acre project creating a new downtown in Surprise, with a portion of the project at the spring home of the Kansas City Royals and the Texas […]
Spring training to be extended a week to accommodate World Baseball Classic
Spring training in 2009 will run Feb. 14 through the end of March, with games beginning around Feb. 25. The long-than-usual schedule is to allow players to participate in a drawn-out World Baseball Classic, slated to run March 5-March 23. Under a normal schedule, spring training — in terms of the players reporting — would […]
Lee County: Let’s bring in another team
There’s the very real chance Lee County and Fort Myers will lose the Boston Red Sox as a tenant, but don’t say county commissioners don’t think big: they want to bring in a third team along with the BoSox and the Minnesota Twins. That would put four teams in the general region (the Tampa Bay […]