Cincinnati Reds Enter Negotiating Agreement with Goodyear, Ariz.

Sides have 75 days to agree to terms on Spring Training deal

01/28/2008, CINCINNATI -- The Cincinnati Reds and the city of Goodyear, Ariz., have entered into a 75-day, exclusive agreement to negotiate a lease on a facility that would serve as the club's future Spring Training site.

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Under the agreement, the sides cannot negotiate with outside parties until the middle of April. The exact date will be announced when the documents are executed.

"The proposed facilities in Goodyear will be the best in baseball," said John Allen, the Cincinnati Reds' former chief operating officer who is leading the search for a new Spring Training site. "Ultimately, our job is to find a facility that will best benefit our team in terms of getting it prepared to play baseball in April."

The Cincinnati Reds' current lease at the City of Sarasota Sports Complex in Sarasota, Fla., expires in October, though the team could remain there through 2011 by exercising three one-year options. The club has trained in Sarasota since 1998.

The plans for the facility in Goodyear already include the Cleveland Indians, who are scheduled to move there in February 2009. If an agreement is reached, the Cincinnati Reds are not expected to move to Goodyear until 2010.

Goodyear is located 20 minutes west of downtown Phoenix. In 2007, nine Major League teams trained in the greater Phoenix area, and three trained in Tucson.

Source: MLB