[JaxRed]

"And the city of Sarasota blinked first."

Not sure what that means exactly, but the Reds bent over backwards to do their part. The Reds will contribute more to their Spring Training complex than any team other than the Yankees, who contributed 2 million more.

This is in contrast to the Indians who are negotiating with Florida and Arizona. Since Arizona doesn't require teams to pay anything, the Indians won't contribute anything if they stay in Florida.

Not only are the Reds paying $10 million, but when Sarasota asked for a 15 year lease, the Reds said they'd go one better and go 20. On their own later they upped it to 30 years.

When one of the city commissioners inquired whether the Reds might pay more, the City Finance Director essentially said the Reds CAN'T pay more. To maintain the tax-exempt status of the bond issues in question, only a small percentage can depend on revenue from a non-government agency like the Reds. He said if the Reds contributed any more, the bonds would not be tax-exempt.

Now the Enquirer article was a hair misleading. 95% of the obstacles are gone. The County of Sarasota was the last piece. But the land isn't available yet, and only 5 spring training sites can get money and at least 6 were planning on applying. So although it looks very good, it's not complete.