Milwaukee to move Spring Operations to Florida? (Melvin denies)

[lcbj68c]

What I legitimately wonder is why this is all so hush-hush if it is true. It isn't like the Sonics leaving for OK City.

 

I'd suspect because it's just a visit and I don't think everybody wants to get riled up over a simple visit. From the sentiments on this page and others, I think Mark A and others know that the fans overall may not be hugely popular over researching moving to Florida. And why tell them about the visit. Likewise, I dont believe Mr. Calhoon. Ed Smith Stadium has other suitors (local HS baseball) and it is smart business for both sides to be hush hush about meetings and the general direction they wish to go. Until a deal is struck or atleast imminent, I wouldn't expect either side to go to the media. And I'm not saying it's a done deal. It's just a prelim meeting at this point to visit the facilities. The fact that madtown has also heard the same story from what I assume are two different people within the govt. there (his being in the Senate, mine being in the Sarasota Parks & Rec mgmt), then I would have to lend some credibility that the Brewers are interested and such a meeting is taking place. I'm not saying this is a done deal, but based upon the all the pro's listed, I dont see how they listen to the other and refuse. That is why I think it will get done, not because anybody has told me so.

 

How soon will this get done? The improvements should be done in time for the 2010 spring season? Making next season the final in Arizona, just in time for the option year.

[Patrick425]

Madtown. I guess you are more trusting than I am. If my own mother emailed me something along these lines, I would ask her where she got the information. Aren't you at least a little curious? Does your friend work for the Brewers? Is he a reporter? What is his source?. That's all I'm asking. I find it hard to believe he has this information that no news media seems to have. I don't think it's unusual to question this.

[Madtown Bomber]

Well my trust comes from the fact my friend works in the senate and knows first hand when allocation of state funds comes into request. So knowing he has first hand knowledge of who is asking for money and what business/income would becoming to use that money.

[SeriesFinale]

I meant to mention this earlier but I've been too caught up in the season itself. Word coming out of Sarasota the last few weeks is that the town is gunning for the Red Sox. I haven't heard a Brewers mention out of there in a long time (darn it). I don't know what may be going on with any other Florida (or Arizona) location.

 

From today's Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

[Patrick425]

So what ever happened with this top secret visit that the Brewers officials had to the park in early may? Why didn't the Sarasota or Milwaukee papers pick up on it and report on it? Oh that's right, it's a secret! How could they have ever have possibly known anything about it?!

 

[TooLiveBrew]

If the park & the Brewers decided not to inform any press outlets, how would they know? It'd likely have been one or two reps from the Brewers, as I'd imagine any Attanasio visit would come later in the process. Are you saying that the local Sarasota media are going to tail any 'suspicious' Brewers-y looking car? This would not have to have been anything more than one random car driving to the stadium with one or two random people inside. It would not have needed to be Melvin, Yost, & Attanasio. There's no reason to suspect that anyone in the media would know anything about a meeting, or that someone getting out of a car & entering a stadium would make anyone raise an eyebrow.

[Madtown Bomber]

Nothing was posted because there was really nothing new to report. The Brewers officials met with Sarasota officials Saturday, Cape Coral and Bonita Springs on Sunday, and Vero Beach on Monday morning. I don't want to release names because I don't want to cross any lines that could be troublesome but the Brewers group was 2 officials from business operations and the corporate marketing departments and Sunday were joined by someone in the baseball operations department.

 

I don't think much is going to happen until the "big" prize, the Boston Red Sox, decide on what they'll do before you see any dominos fall. Sarasota and Fort Myers are going to be slugging it out for the next few months and then when that falls you will see more things happen. Fort Lauderdale has just started to try and keep the Baltimore Orioles from moving to Vero Beach. I think everybody can state for fact that "Dodgertown" won't be without a spring training team for more then a year, since Vero Beach is the most known spring training facility in baseball. There was no mention of Auburndale so either they are backing away or already have another deal (for the Florida Marlins) to come.

 

I'd prefer the Brewers, if they were to move to Florida, to be in Sarasota. The Fort Myers area is quite nice but further away from the family areas that make Florida attractive. Vero Beach would also be nice but I still think Baltimore ends up there.

 

I don't know much about Fort Myers (Cape Coral and Bonita Springs), does anybody know anything about these communities?

 

I never knew people would get so emotional over a spring training site. Patrick if the Brewers move to Florida are we going to have to put you on a suicide watch? sheesh...it's not that big of a deal to talk to people in business.

[lcbj68c]

So what ever happened with this top secret visit that the Brewers officials had to the park in early may? Why didn't the Sarasota or Milwaukee papers pick up on it and report on it? Oh that's right, it's a secret! How could they have ever have possibly known anything about it?!

You obviously didn't see CNN the other day. They had 1,500 press members there at Ed Smith Stadium just waiting to report on it. I couldn't believe it. Aliens came in space ships, Elvis and JFK were there and the entire chronicles of Area 51 were on tables for public viewing.

[lcbj68c]

I never knew people would get so emotional over a spring training site. Patrick if the Brewers move to Florida are we going to have to put you on a suicide watch? sheesh...it's not that big of a deal to talk to people in business.

It's life or death...plus all business is like an open book, didn't you know?

[logan82]

I don't know much about Fort Myers (Cape Coral and Bonita Springs), does anybody know anything about these communities?

I have vacationed in the Fort Myers area, Ft. Myers beach actually, but its right there. I like the area. It is a good place to take a vacation, but it really doesn't have the attractions like Disney and Sea World close. There is the beach, obviously, you could charter fishing, and I am not sure about much else. I like the fact that everything we wanted, except the grocery store, was within 5 blocks.(beach, bars, and many resturants including a great place for gyros) That way we didn't need a car at all. They have a trolly(really a bus, but that's what they call it) that cost $.50 per person to ride. Nothing was really overly expensive. You could eat out for lunch every day and eat in for dinner. I know that sounds like the opposite of what most people would normally do, but you get the same thing for lunch at places that you would for dinner at 2/3 the price.

[Patrick425]

I know that some media outlets have named the Brewers as being rumored to be moving to Florida, but I have not seen anything in print, outside of this thread that would indicate that they are actually touring possible facilites. If the Brewers were visiting sites in Florida and seriously considering moving to Florida, the local media would know about it and report about it. There would at least be a blub about it in the Sport section.

 

I never knew people would get so emotional over a spring training site. Patrick if the Brewers move to Florida are we going to have to put you on a suicide watch? sheesh...it's not that big of a deal to talk to people in business.

It's not so much about whether the Brewers move to Florida or not. I hope they don't. I'm just wondering what the guildlines are in this Forum to bring up subjects or rumors. It's like last year when someone quoted LaRussa as saying something in September that he would rather lose to the Brewers than have the Cubs win the series. It was no where to be found in the media and the person that started the thread never gave a source. Even if it was a joke, I think any reference to possibly throwing games uttered by a major league manager would garner a lot of media attention.

 

Where do we draw the line. What if I start a thread that 80% of umpires are in the back pockets of the mafia and I state this based on something a friend said to me that had ties to organized crime, or that Miller Park will fall apart in 5 to 10 years because I know some Iron Workers that worked on the stadium and gave me some information about short cuts that were taken.

 

Are we just going to start filling the site with threads based on things our friends and relatives tell us?

[TooLiveBrew]

Where do we draw the line. What if I start a thread that 80% of umpires are in the back pockets of the mafia and I state this based on something a friend said to me that had ties to organized crime, or that Miller Park will fall apart in 5 to 10 years because I know some Iron Workers that worked on the stadium and gave me some information about short cuts that were taken.

 

Those are pretty sensationalized examples. I don't think MBomber passing along info he's encountered & takes to be true is anywhere near crafting something as slanderous/sensational as that.

 

However, to be fair, I think people would read your post(s) with the respect anyone's post deserves. If it didn't hold water, sure, maybe get mad, but it's not like Bomber is out here saying anything so outrageous -- just that some reps from the Brewers were expected to make a preliminary visit to a possible ST site. I don't think it's all that 'print it!' newsworthy, personally, but I enjoy hearing what updates we can. If I trust MBomber & he was just screwing with us, that's my problem. I don't see what he could get out of fabricating something like this.

[whizkid]

Where do we draw the line. What if I start a thread that 80% of umpires are in the back pockets of the mafia and I state this based on something a friend said to me that had ties to organized crime, or that Miller Park will fall apart in 5 to 10 years because I know some Iron Workers that worked on the stadium and gave me some information about short cuts that were taken.

 

Go ahead and start one like that. There have been outlandish threads making claims supposedly based on inside knowledge before but it becomes clear pretty quickly when someone's talking out their rear.

 

Madtown's info on the other hand seems quite reasonable and he's not making any outlandish claims. So it seems everyone other than you is taking the info with a wait and see attitude and not getting bent out of shape over it.

[lcbj68c]

Those are pretty sensationalized examples. I don't think MBomber passing along info he's encountered & takes to be true is anywhere near crafting something as slanderous/sensational as that.

 

However, to be fair, I think people would read your post(s) with the respect anyone's post deserves. If it didn't hold water, sure, maybe get mad, but it's not like Bomber is out here saying anything so outrageous -- just that some reps from the Brewers were expected to make a preliminary visit to a possible ST site. I don't think it's all that 'print it!' newsworthy, personally, but I enjoy hearing what updates we can. If I trust MBomber & he was just screwing with us, that's my problem. I don't see what he could get out of fabricating something like this.

I have to admit TLB, that most of the time, I skip over a bit of your posts due to just certain differences of opinions we have. However, I have to give kudos where kudos are due and say that you hit this one straight on the head. Neither myself or Madbomber have "called our shot" and claimed a move was imminent, but it has been interesting that we both have heard the same information from two different sources regarding these preliminary visits. There are many things that happen everyday that dont show up in print or electronic media and this is no different. I appreciated your intellectual viewpoint and I'm sure Madtown does as well.

[Cracked Bat Collector]

I love AZ way more than FL in general and for spring training too. I personally love the Maryvale complex. It'd be a big disappointment for them to move to FL, games are so spread out there, where as everything is close together in AZ.

[SeriesFinale]

It'd be a big disappointment for them to move to FL, games are so spread out there, where as everything is close together in AZ.

This has been refuted time and again in this thread

[Madtown Bomber]

I was really just trying to pass along some information. If I had made it up I wouldn't keep coming back and posting. Most outlandish rumor starters post and you never really see them again. I hope that I don't give that impression because it wasn't my intention to work people up so much. You can have whatever take you want either way and I respect that.

 

I will continue to post as I find out any new information if people want it. I really don't expect much until the Boston Red Sox make decision.

[pitchleague]

Go ahead and start one like that. There have been outlandish threads making claims supposedly based on inside knowledge before but it becomes clear pretty quickly when someone's talking out their rear.

I'd like to state that this is probably not a good idea. I've seen it just a few times when someone has posted some claim, it got blown apart, and bans were handed down (or at the very least some strikes). Let's not encourage people to start making outlandish claims without having proof to back it up.

[Patrick425]

Madtown's info on the other hand seems quite reasonable and he's not making any outlandish claims.

I guess it's a matter of the definition of outlandish. Without going into too much detail, the company I work for had the Iron Workers as a client back when the stadium was just completed. There were some comments made at one of the meetings by some of the union members regarding the workmanship at Miller Park and the time contraints they were under. One of them mentioned they would never step foot in that place because they thought it was dangerous.

 

At the time I thought this person is sincere in his thoughts and had no reason to lie, but I used some reason and dismissed the comments anyways because:

 

A) People like to tell other people inside news that they are "privilaged" too, even though it may not be entirely accurate

B) This person was probably upset about other things (time lines, etc) and was overstating the alleged "dangers" of Miller Park.

C) I assume there are rigorous inspections done by the state. There would have to be some conspiracies going on, I don't believe in conspiracies.

 

If I did decide to post it, how would it be any more outlandish than Madtown's claims? I think it's outlandish to believe the media would not know about this or care about it. No, it's not like the first landing on the moon or anything, but I think enough people would interested about this news to post something about it in the paper.

 

Let's not encourage people to start making outlandish claims without having proof to back it up.

Kind of my point.

[NeedMoreFans]

I just heard from a friend of mine who lives in Ft. Myers. He has also been hearing rumors that the Brewers are looking at moving to Florida. Just like other posters have said, the Red Sox are also looking at Sarasota. It sounds like the Brewers will have to wait until the Red Sox make any decisions before they move forward with anything. (as a side note, I'm not sure if this is an opinion or has some substance, but my friend says a Red Sox move is unlikely...I think it's opinion though.)

[RyDogg66]

I can see questioning why the Brewers would want to move to FL. but why question if Madtown was making this up?

[Patrick425]

He has also been hearing rumors that the Brewers are looking at moving to Florida

I'm not doubting that there are rumors that Brewers are looking to move to FL. I'm also not saying that Madtown is making anything up. His friend told him something, he believes it. Fair enough. Sorry, but I don't and for very good reason. Take a look at this site.

 

http://www.springtrainingonline.com/

 

Pretty much any time a team entertains a thought to move their ST site, it's reported on this site. If a team actually visits a possible new ST site, it would definitely be reported on that site. Why is it that all other teams are open about their thoughts of possibly moving their ST operations? Yet the Brewers for some odd reason want to keep everything hush hush top-secret? Does not make any sense to me.

 

 

(fixed code --1992)

[CL55]

The way I look at it is that Madtown knows way to many small details that have come out later on, like the whole Bonita Springs wanting a team, and the Baltimore Orioles details that I haven't seen reported anywhere else until days later. I have family that live in the Winter Haven area and the Sarasota area and they are well aware Auburndale wants a team also.

 

I guess I don't need to see everything in print before I believe it. All the puzzle pieces fit for a team moving over to Florida from Arizona since the Reds, Dodgers, and Indians are all on the move. MLB can say all they want about not worrying about odd number of teams but it does create a scheduling nightmare with the new rule that was put into place about playing a certain amount of MLB starters in a game that people paid money for. Vero Beach isn't going to be without a team like I read before because of their the most know site in baseball. Sarasota seems determined to get a team in.

 

You can choose to believe what you want, that is your right. You can choose to try to disclaim a person like Madtown, that is your right. But if you do that you should also think outside the box and think objectively about whether the puzzle pieces fit. There is a old saying my grandpa always said, "where there is smoke there is usually fire." In this case there are more then a few people seeing smoke to believe there might be something to it.

[areacodes]

Pretty much any time a team entertains a thought to move their ST site, it's reported on this site. If a team actually visits a possible new ST site, it would definitely be reported on that site. Why is it that all other teams are open about their thoughts of possibly moving their ST operations? Yet the Brewers for some odd reason want to keep everything hush hush top-secret? Does not make any sense to me.

 

 

(fixed code --1992)

Don't you think it is possible that there is more to it? If these cities in Florida are trying to reel in the big fish (BoSox) do they really want a lot of attention that they are having the Brewers tour their facilities? Maybe the Brewers have absolutely no problem if the information gets out but the places they visited asked them to be quiet. I understand being skeptical but just because springtrainingonline.com doesn't have the info doesn't mean it isn't real. The fact that more than one poster with sources inside the government (Senate and Parks Department) have passed along information makes it a lot easier for me to believe.

[Patrick425]

just because springtrainingonline.com doesn't have the info doesn't mean it isn't real.

 

I just used that site as an example, because they are usually pretty up to date on all news concerning spring training. I'm finding it hard to believe, other than the occasional "teams rumored to be looking to be move include Milwaukee, ......." in some stories, there has been no talk from the Brewers, nothing mentioned in the Journal/Sentinel. Nothing anywhere regarding any real evidence that the Brewers are actually looking. The whole "Brewers are being asked to keep mum" seems a little far fetched to me. Wouldn't it be just the opposite? Wouldn't you want it to be known that as many teams as possible are looking at your stadium? Wouldn't that make it look more attractive?

 

Well, I guess this discussion falls under that politically incorrect statement that I have seen that compares arguing on the Internet to the special olympics.

Looks like I am in the very small minority (1 - that's about as small as it gets), and I'm not sure people are really completely understanding the argument I'm trying to make. Anyways, until I see some real evidence, I'm not convinced the Brewers are really entertaining any thoughts of moving to FL and it appears I'm obviously not going to convince anyone else they are not. Even if they never do move to FL, I really have no way of proving that they never looked at any place in FL, so it's an unwinable argument on my part.