Putting the Squeeze on Grapefruit League

David Cardwell, executive director of the Grapefruit League Assn., can’t wait for this weekend’s full slate of spring training action--and the end of an off-season of uncertainty.

But more changes are ahead for the Grapefruit League.

Two teams, the Kansas City Royals and Texas Rangers, will leave for Arizona after this season, dropping the league to 18 teams, the fewest in a decade.

The Florida Marlins want to move from their training venue in Viera to Palm Beach County following an ownership change. Officials in both communities are upset about that.

Throw in the still-simmering debate over eliminating two major league franchises, and there’s little doubt why Cardwell is eagerly waiting to hear the umpires shout “Play ball!”

“For an off-season like this, you probably have to go back to 1990, when there was a lockout,” Cardwell said from his Orlando office, where he directs the Grapefruit League’s lobbying organization.

Spring training is big business in Florida, so how the Grapefruit League shakes out will resonate through the state.

Last spring, more than 1.5 million fans attended games at the state’s 19 ballparks. That means an estimated economic impact of $490 million and the creation of more than 5,500 full-time jobs, according to the Florida Sports Foundation.

That’s why government and business leaders associated with the Grapefruit League flinch every time commissioner Bud Selig mentions contraction.

“We’re already going to lose close to $50 million with the Royals and the Rangers,” Florida Sports Foundation spokesman Nick Gandy said. “We’re not excited about seeing any less.”

Days after a thrilling World Series last fall, baseball officials said eliminating two franchises was the best way to deal with financial problems facing the league.

The Minnesota Twins and the Montreal Expos were said to be the most likely targets. The Twins train in Fort Myers, on the southern Gulf coast, and the Expos train in Jupiter, about 90 minutes north of Miami.

The speculation continued until just days before pitchers and catchers reported to Florida. Baseball officials put the plan on hold--for now.

“[The Expos] are still here, but who knows for how much longer?” asked Palm Beach County Administrator Robert Weisman. “I’m kind of wondering who’s going to come and see the games.”

Although anecdotal evidence around the Grapefruit League seems to show attendance won’t be hurt by contraction worries, Cardwell noted that having league officials poor-mouth the sport seemed to be an odd way of promotion.

“Too often, I see the league and the teams get so preoccupied with their own concerns that they forget what they’re doing in terms of relationships with their [spring training] venues,” Cardwell said.

Major league baseball responded to Cardwell’s criticism by, in essence, confirming it.

“I don’t think they understand the economic situation in baseball,” Selig spokesman Rich Levin said. “We have a very serious competitive imbalance problem that we have to deal with.”

While the threat of contraction isn’t going away, the Royals and Rangers are joining the Cactus League next year. The teams will share a new stadium in Surprise, Ariz., a suburb of Phoenix.

The Rangers have spent the last 16 springs in Port Charlotte, and the Royals have trained at their Baseball City complex in Haines City since 1988.

“Certainly, we’ll miss Kansas City,” Cardwell said. “They love Baseball City and would stay there as long as they could, but that property is being sold by Anheuser-Busch and they’re going to have to get out.

Cardwell said there wasn’t anything Florida could do to keep the Rangers. “I believe their current owner was committed to going to Arizona, and it was a matter of working out a deal.”

In Arizona, 10 teams play in new stadiums and have long-term commitments. The Cactus League hasn’t lost a team to Florida since the Cleveland Indians left before the 1993 season. Three teams have left Florida for Arizona in the last five years.

A team staying in Florida seems to be creating the most headaches within the Grapefruit League.

Just before spring training began, former Expos owner Jeffrey Loria bought the Marlins and said he wanted to move the team’s spring venue from Viera, south of Cape Canaveral, to Jupiter’s Roger Dean Stadium. The Expos currently share that stadium with the St. Louis Cardinals.

“The Jupiter complex is one that would be very helpful in introducing our fans slightly north of [Miami]. You want to draw from everywhere,” said Loria, who has a home in West Palm Beach County. “It’s a beautiful facility. The players I’ve had there before respond very well to it. And we own it.”

The fallout from Loria’s announcement was immediate--and overwhelmingly negative.

In Viera, Brevard County officials are upset that the Marlins would break their lease, which runs another 15 years. Also, they don’t want to lose one of the top draws in the Grapefruit League.

“I would say there’s lot of disappointment,” Brevard County Manager Tom Jenkins said.

And in Jupiter, government officials are concerned that a South Florida team training in South Florida would hold down tourism.

“We want the team, obviously, that will generate most economic activity in the county,” said Charles Lehmann, executive director of the Palm Beach County Tourist Development Council. “And since we’re paying for the stadium in bed taxes, we want heads in beds. It’s that simple.”

The Marlins’ move has set off another chain reaction in the Grapefruit League.

Brevard County is already looking for another team to play at Space Coast Stadium. And where--or if--the Expos will play next year is anyone’s guess.

The Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles and New York Mets have all been mentioned as possible candidates for Viera.