The Orioles are awaiting three governmental approvals in Florida this afternoon that would secure them a new spring training home for the next 30 years.
The Orioles and Sarasota County officials have reached a tentative agreement that would relocate the club's spring training headquarters from Fort Lauderdale, in the southeastern part of Florida, to Sarasota on the state's western coast, starting in February.
As part of the potential deal, $31.2 million in state grant money and a county tourism tax would be used to fully renovate 22-year-old Ed Smith Stadium, which hosted the Cincinnati Reds from 1998 to 2009, and dilapidated Twin Lakes Park, the Orioles' current minor league complex.
Most important, for the first time in 15 years, the Orioles' minor league and major league spring facilities would be within a 15-minute drive instead of on opposite coasts. No other organization has minor and major league camps more than a few miles apart.
"We definitely need a place where our minor leaguers are within closer than three hours," Orioles right fielder Nick Markakis said. "I think this will definitely help."
The Orioles won't officially discuss the proposal, though they are sending president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail and attorney Alan Rifkin to Sarasota today.
"The club is refraining from comment at this time," said Greg Bader, the Orioles' director of communications. "Perhaps we'll have more to say following [today's] votes."
For the long-awaited move from obsolete Fort Lauderdale Stadium to become a reality, however, three things have to happen today.
The City of Sarasota has to approve an inter-local agreement that would transfer the Ed Smith property to Sarasota County for $1. Within that agreement, the county and the Orioles are seeking environmental indemnification from the city for the property, which decades earlier may have served as a landfill.
Dave Bullock, deputy county administrator for Sarasota County, said he and attorneys from the county and city spent much of Tuesday crafting specific provisions that he believes should be suitable for both sides.
City officials are expected to meet at 1 p.m. today to discuss the arrangement.
If the inter-local agreement is approved, it would be passed on to the Sarasota County Board of Commissioners for a vote during its 1:30 p.m. meeting. Assuming the inter-local deal has city approval, it likely will be approved by the county commission.
