In town for organizational meetings, new Chicago Cubs owner Tom Ricketts was wooed last night at a reception sponsored by Gov. Jan Brewer; today he'll tour potential spring-training-facility sites along the Loop 202 freeway.
In town for organizational meetings, new Chicago Cubs owner Tom Ricketts was wooed last night at a reception sponsored by Gov. Jan Brewer; today he'll tour potential spring-training-facility sites along the Loop 202 freeway.
The issue for Ricketts: whether to pursue a new training facility in Mesa or Chandler (the Gila River Indian Community has made a play for the team) or shift spring operations to Florida, where a private developer is pushing a new complex in Collier County, near Naples. The team wants a replacement for HoHoKam Park (where spring games are played) and Fitch Field (where training actually happens). A complex is more than a place where games are played: it's where players can train and rehab year-round, and it's where a rookie-league team plays. We continue from folks on the inside that Arizona is the preferred home for the Cubs; even the Naples folks admit landing the team would be a long shot.
RELATED STORIES: Naples: We're serious about landing the Cubs; Ricketts to visit Mesa next week to tour potential spring-training sites; Lawmaker: Florida should up spending to lure spring camps for Cubs, Brewers; Cubs' spring-training future doesn't lie in HoHoKam Park; Mesa delegation to pitch Cubs on spring-training facilities
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