Officials with Vero Beach and Indian River County say they’ve made their absolute final offer to the Baltimore Orioles regarding the team’s potential spring-training move into Dodgertown. (Of course, they’ve said this before, so it’s hard to say if this is really the final, final offer.) The final offer calls for $13 million in improvements to Holman Stadium as well as the use of 3.76 acres (the former Dodgers golf course) next to the facility.Officials with Vero Beach and Indian River County say they’ve made their absolute final offer to the Baltimore Orioles regarding the team’s potential spring-training move into Dodgertown. (Of course, they’ve said this before, so it’s hard to say if this is really the final, final offer.) The final offer calls for $13 million in improvements to Holman Stadium as well as the use of 3.76 acres (the former Dodgers golf course) next to the facility.
The officials say they’re confident about landing the Orioles. But this offer isn’t that much better than previous offers to the Orioles — about a million more in funding and the golf-course land are new — and we’re betting the Orioles will not be rushing to make a commitment. Let’s start doing the math. Holman Stadium is a quaint, rustic old ballpark that has a limited number of concession stands, very old seating, no enclosed press box and no suites. Less than four acres of land isn’t enough for any serious development: a Ripken Baseball Academy is already off the table, and land development in Florida is on serious life support these days. And $13 million really isn’t a lot these days when you’re talking about building the kinds of things a baseball team expects in a spring-training facility. By comparison, Sarasota’s Ed Smith Stadium and Fort Myers’ City of Palms Park (assuming Boston does indeed land a new spring facility) already have suites and plenty of concession spaces. Sarasota and Fort Myers are also larger cities than Vero Beach. There’s also the very good chance Sarasota officials would offer $30 million for a renovation of Ed Smith Stadium to meet the needs of the Orioles.
Indian River County and Vero Beach are making the best out of a very limited hand, and we’re guessing the Orioles will continue doing what they have been doing: waiting to see what the Red Sox do and then adjust course accordingly. There’s plenty of time to plan for Spring Training 2010. More from TCPalm.com.