The Rockies’ spring training future in Tucson got murkier Friday when the Chicago White Sox moved a step closer to leaving Tucson for the Phoenix suburb of Glendale next spring.
If the White Sox depart, that would leave just two major- league teams in Tucson for spring training — the Rockies and the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Rockies have the right to break their lease at Hi Corbett Field if there are not at least two other teams based in Tucson. Similarly, the Diamondbacks could break their contract at Tucson Electric Park, potentially leaving no teams in Tucson.
It was announced Friday the White Sox are offering Pima County a $5 million buyout to break the team’s contract at Tucson Electric Park, which it shares with the Diamondbacks. County supervisors will consider the proposal Tuesday. The team is under contract to play at TEP through 2012 but has been actively seeking a way out of its lease.
The White Sox want out of Tucson so they can move to Glendale to share a new $82 million complex with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
In September, Rockies owner Dick Monfort told The Denver Post the Rockies were keeping all of their options open. The club had hoped to know by the 2008 all-star break whether funding for about $10 million in renovations to Hi Corbett Field would be approved, or if they would be better off pursuing a deal for a new complex in Marana, a city of about 33,000 northwest of Tucson.
“It’s as clear as mud,” Monfort said.
If the White Sox leave, a major problem for the Rockies and Diamondbacks would be the numerous long bus trips to the Phoenix area for Cactus League games. The Rockies have spent spring training in Tucson since their inception in 1993.
The White Sox’s newest proposal would allow them to pay Pima County $5 million and continue efforts to find a major-league team to replace them at Tucson Electric Park.
“It’s probably the best financial arrangement for the county,” county administrator Chuck Huckelberry told the Tucson Citizen.
According to the Citizen, the proposed agreement would give the county the option over 180 days to decide whether to take the $5 million and mandate that the team continue looking for a replacement through 2016, or have the White Sox get Major League Baseball to open a youth baseball academy at TEP.
Patrick Saunders: 303-954-1428 or psaunders@denverpost.com
