Jacksonville (Suns) is Dodgers AA franchise. They extended their affiliation for 2 years (the minimum) on the 6th, 5 days before the deadline.
The Suns owner came on the radio the next day to talk about it. He says he expected an announcement within the next 6-9 months that the Dodgers are leaving Vero Beach for Spring Training in Arizona.
He said the reason it took so long to get a deal done this time was that LA was exploring a Texas League affiliation this time. And that LA will move all it's east coast teams out west. (they have GCL, Florida State and Southern League in Florida and a South Atlantic team in Georgia)
Now the ripple effect....
MLB requires 2 teams to move to Arizona at once, and Cleveland is still negotiating with Florida and Arizona. Assuming the Reds consumate the deal with Sarasota, it seems logical that Cleveland must be going to Arizona.
So Dodgers will pull out of Jacksonville, and the Cubs AA affiliate has been sold to owners from Orlando. Everyone knows the franchise will move to Orlando. The Cubs Florida State League team is in Daytona Beach.
Jacksonville is considered a crown jewel, so the Cubs could choose either to go to Jacksonville or Orlando depending on which deal they consider better.
And I consider the Reds to be possible contenders for Orlando/Jacksonville also. It took a personal visit from Castellini to convince Chattanooga to sign thru 2008. Now, we don't know what the Lookouts concerns were. They were pretty bad last year, and pretty good this year. That, and Castellini's love of tradition could keep the Reds in Chattanooga. The Reds will have been with Chattanooga for 20 years at the end of 2008.
Factors which could see the AA Reds in Florida: The Reds have an Cincinnati hub of operations. Both Dayton and Louisville are less than 2 hours driving time away. But Chattanooga is 5 hrs and 48 minutes away.
And they have a Sarasota hub, with Spring Training, GCL and Florida State League (as well as extended Spring Training, and Fall Instructional League). The Orlando and Jacksonville locations would be 2 hours and 4 hours away from Sarasota.