"Anything would be an upgrade," Orioles first baseman Aubrey Huff said. "Don't get me wrong. I love Fort Lauderdale and it's an awesome place to be. But you walk into the clubhouse, and you get that musty smell of asbestos. And then you walk outside, and you get the jet fuel smell. The infield was terrible and the weight room was a tent. It was just bad."
The Orioles have a one-year option on Fort Lauderdale Stadium, which they can reject at any time. They had also negotiated with the Florida communities of Vero Beach and Fort Myers, but Sarasota was preferred because of the proximity of the club's minor league complex.
"I enjoy Sarasota. It's a great little town," second baseman Brian Roberts said. "I think as much as anything, we need to get our minor league and our major league teams together. Travel will be nice, too. I think there are a lot of advantages to it, definitely."
