Diamondbacks looking for a way out of Tucson?
The Diamondbacks’ lease at Tucson Electric Park contains at out-clause: The Dbacks can leave if there are ever fewer than three teams playing in Tucson. This winter, the White Sox bolted to Glendale, where they’ll share a facility with the Dodgers. That leaves two teams in Tucson — the Dbacks and the Rockies.
Now the Dbacks acknowledge they have talked with Casa Grande about moving spring training sites and would prefer having three other teams in Tucson for better competition.
D’backs president and CEO Derrick Hall spoke this morning near Tucson Electric Park as the team had its first full-squad workout.
“If you had your preference you’d either have four teams here in Tucson, where you can draw from the fan base here, or have a one- or two-team complex up in the Valley where you can draw from your fan base there,” Hall said.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with Hall’s tactic, it’s a variation on the “Boras.” Super-agent Scott Boras likes to make exhorbitant contract demands, then when a team signs one of his players that team can say, “At least we got him for a fraction of what Boras was originally asking.”
Hall says he wants four teams in Tucson, but really he wants to move the Dbacks to a fancy new facility in the Phoenix burbs where he can sell tickets for twice as much money. He’s greasing the wheels for a Tucson departure. The reality is Tucson needs three teams, but now the goal is four. Hall just raised the bar. Nicely played, Derrick.
February 20th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
You’re exactly right Coley. There’s not a chance in the world that the D-backs stay put in Tucson…can’t really blame them…sad for the city..but an economic reality.
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