Related articles:

Our city leaders must step up to the plate now Mexican league could help ease baseball blues Phoenix area reeling in Cactus League Maricopa has unfair advantage in spring training Arizona pitching Reds for new spring training homeReds likely to remain in Florida for trainingOfficials to break ground on Phoenix spring training facility

Other articles by Josh Brodesky:

Gas-card 'deal' on radio may be no deal at all UA plans outreach on caring for pets Director departs after five years at Pima Air Museum Supreme Court gun ruling may be felt in Arizona 2nd Amendment enthusiasts hail D.C. gun ruling Tucson Greyhound Park sues racing-foe blogger NW Side blaze guts home, business Northwest Side home, business engulfed by flames in early morning blaze (with video)State removing more kids in Pima County this year S. Tucson's No. 2 cop fired after FBI-IRS investigation

Mechanical
Pioneer Landscaping
Diesel Fleet Mechanic General
The Graham Group
Assistant to the Building Manager Sales and Marketing
Xentel
Expanding call center. New Hiring Bonus! Production and Manufacturing
Pioneer Landscaping
Crushing Crew Trades/Construction
Baker Brothers Plumbing
Dry Wallers Trades/Construction
Wentz and Patrick Construction
Carpenters & Helpers Trades/Construction
arizona portland cement
maintenance electrician

The Colorado Rockies are in talks with the city of Goodyear about moving there, a prospect that could potentially kill spring ball in Tucson.

Goodyear wants a second spring training team, and the city has talked with the Rockies in the last two months.

The Phoenix suburb is building a new stadium for the Cleveland Indians for the 2009 season, but room could be made for another team.

"Certainly, two teams make sense here," Goodyear Mayor Jim Cavanaugh said.

It's unclear just how serious the conversations are. The Rockies declined to comment, and Cavanaugh downplayed the talks, saying Goodyear officials have not "been making overt efforts" to lure the Rockies.

Rather, he said, talks were brokered by a consultant Goodyear hired to help lure the Indians. But he acknowledged the consultant and Rockies recently talked, and that spring training in Tucson is vulnerable.

Meanwhile, the Rockies have said that if they are to stay in the Old Pueblo, they expect millions of dollars in improvements to Hi Corbett Field. And there is also the need to find a third team to replace the Chicago White Sox, who last year announced plans to move to Glendale for the 2009 season.

Whether that move happens so soon is debatable. The White Sox are contractually obligated to find a replacement team in order to break their lease at Tucson Electric Park, which runs through 2012. Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry said the White Sox have assured him they will find a replacement team or honor their contract.

But no replacement team has been found; and the team potentially faces stiff penalties if it and Glendale's other spring training team, the Los Angeles Dodgers, don't combine to play at least 20 home games in Glendale in 2009.

If spring training in Tucson is reduced to two teams, the Rockies and the Arizona Diamondbacks can also break their leases.

"The Rockies have been very open about the fact that other communities in Arizona have approached them," Tucson City Manager Mike Hein said.

Those who aren't baseball fans would also feel the effects of a spring training exodus. Besides the loss of tourism dollars spring ball brings, Pima County still owes $26 million on TEP, meaning taxpayers would be paying the bill for a baseball park where baseball isn't played.

While the Rockies may be talking with Goodyear, they have also expressed interest in staying here — for a price.

Team officials sent the city of Tucson letters in May and August asking for millions of dollars in improvements to Hi Corbett.

The request included: a new minor league facility, office space, remodeled clubhouses, a new outfield wall, a grass berm beyond left field, more on-site parking and a patio and grassy knoll in right field.

The city has played ball with the idea to some degree. Officials and Rockies management took a tour of Tempe Diablo Stadium to look at how renovations were done there. But the cost looks prohibitive.

Hi Corbett Field was built in 1937, and Hein said the improvements would cost "tens of millions" of dollars. "There is no money sitting around" for the upgrades, he said.

But compared to the price of the new stadiums in Glendale and Goodyear — $76.8 and $74.5 million, respectively — the renovation costs are a bargain.

Regardless of whether the Rockies stay, many of the upgrades would be needed to stay in the spring training market, said Fred Gray, who heads the city's Parks and Recreation Department.

But just as important to keeping the Rockies is having at least three teams.

"It was clear the desire was to have three teams," Gray said of recent meetings with Rockies management.

And if the White Sox leave without finding a replacement, it will mean Tucson's other two teams will fall like dominoes.

Having only two teams in Tucson would put the Rockies and Diamondbacks at a competitive disadvantage, said Derrick Hall, president of the Diamondbacks.

Traveling to Tucson from Phoenix already costs more, and some of the better players already skip the trip here to play, hurting the level of competition.

"It's important to us to have our facilities south of Phoenix," Hall said. "Ideally there would be four teams there. We continue to reach out to other teams. We probably have made a dozen calls."

But so far, no one is answering.

The Diamondbacks have not approached other communities about moving, but if the Rockies leave Tucson, Hall said the Diamondbacks would certainly follow. And if a third team isn't found soon, the Diamondbacks will start looking for a new spring training home.

"We are coming to a point where we are going to have to start weighing our options proactively," he said.

In what could be viewed as a sign of desperation to lure a third team here, former Sidewinders owner Jay Zucker has suggested city officials consider bringing in the Monterrey Sultans, champions of Mexico's equivalent of the major leagues.

The idea has been met with tepid interest by both team and government officials.

"If there is not an available major league team, let's look out of the box for a second here," Zucker said.

Zucker, who is also a state baseball commissioner, is hoping to bring the Sultans to Tucson and Phoenix next year for exhibition games against Cactus League teams. But if the games are competitive and fans turn out, Zucker says the Sultans should be considered as a White Sox replacement.

"We know there is a huge baseball market for the Hispanic teams with baseball here in Arizona," he said.

Last month, Zucker gave José Maiz, president of the Monterrey Sultans, a tour of Hi Corbett Field; and the two also met with Mayor Bob Walkup for dinner.

"All of the facilities, the installations are really very good," Maiz said.

The Mexican League's spring training starts earlier than spring training here, so the idea would be to arrive toward the end of the Mexican League's training season and the beginning of Major League training.

City Manager Hein, however, dismissed the idea.

"The mayor is a great mayor as far as meeting with anybody," Hein said. "But I don't make much of that visit."

Hall said the Diamondbacks would not be interested in such an arrangement, and that their spring training contract explicitly calls for Major League Baseball teams to ensure a standard level of play.

"The problem is with these international teams is that the level of play is not to the caliber of Major League Baseball," he said. "I wouldn't classify the idea as desperation as much as creativeness. I think people are trying anything right now to make it fit and make it last."

Continue reading up on all the baseball happenings at go.azstarnet.com/mudville