More details on Reds move to Goodyear

• Goodyear will pony up the necessary money.
• Have until Thursday (3/13) to submit its financial package of an estimated $32 million.
• "We are going to Goodyear," said Reds executive John Allen.
  
• Reds would have kicked in nearly $10 million in Sarasota, but in Goodyear, they would be required to pay an annual rental fee of $150,000, while pocketing all event revenue streams. - That is huge, what a potential savings and revenue making opportunity for the Reds.
  

There will be several free agent starting pitchers available in 2009. Jr's last year. The extra cash will come in handy. Full article below.

Goodyear's progress dampens fans' spirits

By Doug Fernandes

SARASOTA -- Friday, a splendid day for baseball was not matched in mood.

Fans ate their hot dogs and drank their beer, watching the Cincinnati Reds host the Pittsburgh Pirates, but for many, a sense of inevitability draped Ed Smith Stadium.

And sadness.

"This is a bad day, and look how nice it is," said Mike Wade, a former Cincinnati resident now living in Parrish. "It's a sad day for Reds fans, especially down here in Florida."

The question of the Reds remaining in Sarasota for spring training or bolting to the Arizona desert seemed answered Thursday with word that the city of Goodyear would pony up the necessary money.

Goodyear has until Thursday to submit its financial package of an estimated $32 million. Once in place, "we are going to Goodyear," said Reds executive John Allen.

"If Goodyear comes up with the money," said facilities manager Pat Calhoon, "I fully expect that the Reds will honor their commitment and not come back here."

For out-of-state fans who migrate to Sarasota for Reds spring training, and who might not otherwise visit, the news was not endorsed.

"I hate to see it," said Cincinnati attorney Hank Menninger. "I'm a traditionalist. All the teams should be in Florida.

"My understanding is the Goodyear package just blew this away. It was just a matter of whether Sarasota would do the little things it took to keep them here, and apparently they didn't want to do it."

Cincinnati's proposed deal in Goodyear, according to Calhoon, indeed is sweet. In Sarasota, the Reds agreed to kick in nearly $10 million toward the $41 million renovation.

But in Goodyear, they would be required to pay an annual rental fee of $150,000, while pocketing all event revenue streams.

"I'm still hopeful that the money piece of this is going to be difficult for Goodyear," Calhoon said. "If I were them, I'd do it.

"They're not going to have an opportunity like this to bring in another club, probably at the cost that they're looking at right now."

"Money talks, no matter what," said Dohn Wiley, a Reds fan from Wabash, Ind. "That's the sad thing."

Calhoon does not expect Cincinnati to use a Goodyear offer as leverage to pry a better deal from Sarasota.

But he wonders what a relocation would do to a Reds' fan base that has come to embrace Sarasota.

"I think the big question the Reds have to entertain," he said, "is perhaps some of the things you've been hearing from the fans down here: Is it worth it to go 2,000 to 3,000 miles away from their fan base and jeopardize the ability for their fans to see them?"

"Instead of driving one day," said Cincinnati resident Glen Wermuth, "it's going to be like 21/2 for us. But if we had to go to Arizona, yes, we would."

Ever the optimist, Calhoon now must face the real possibility of the Reds leaving Sarasota, taking with them an 84-year-old tradition.

"All the naysayers that were out there that wanted to see this thing fail," he said, "they may very well see it."

Source.