If you get a chance, today’s Sun is a must-read about the Orioles Spring Training site resolution, and more importantly the current team complexes down in Florida. Um, it’s not good, and if you take into the account what some players have to contribute along with some personnel from other organizations and the team, something needs to be done and soon.
The candid responses from the players about the conditions in Florida are nothing short of galling. It’s an incredibly detailed, well-written investigative piece, and if anyone doesn’t think that there’s a problem with the team’s situation in Florida — there probably is now.
Another interesting view of the situation comes from WNST’s Drew Forrester and Nestor Aparicio — love or hate him — that points out the deficiencies the Orioles have with their camps in Sarasota, and their spring home in South Florida.
I’ve been to Fort Lauderdale for the past few Spring Training seasons (but never the minor league complex in Sarasota), and while the city itself cannot be beat for it’s location, the facility is indeed subpar. It certainly does not match other ballparks or facilities down in Florida, and would be akin to a high-school level field with simply more seating.
Not that I know what it takes to run a team, much less own one, the first impression that one gets when going to their park down in Fort Lauderdale is that it is old, and in need of upgrading, if not outright demolition — when you compare to what the Yankees have in Tampa, the Phillies in Clearwater, the Red Sox in Ft. Myers, and what the Cardinals/Marlins have in Jupiter.
I’ve been to all the camps in Florida aside from the Jays and Reds, but you get my point — the Orioles facilities down in that state are inferior.
Something needs to be done, because perception — whether it is true or not — is often reality.
