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If the Arizona Diamondbacks follow the Chicago White Sox to the Phoenix area, the White Sox will pay.

After hearing the Diamondbacks were in discussions with private developers to build a stadium in the Phoenix area, Pima County officials added one more covenant to the deal that lets the White Sox out of their spring-training contract with the county.

If the Diamondbacks head out of town before their contract is up in 2012, the White Sox will pay $250,000 for every missed season.

But there are so many conditions placed around the payment that County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry acknowledged that the chances of the White Sox ever having to pay are "probably very low."

Huckelberry also downplayed the risk of the Diamondbacks leaving Tucson.

Team President Derrick Hall told the Arizona Republic last week that the team was looking to leave Tucson because the White Sox's departure leaves only two teams — the Diamondbacks and the Colorado Rockies — and the Rockies also are looking at leaving.

A team spokesman confirmed the report to the Arizona Daily Star.

But Huckelberry said Hall told him his comments were misunderstood, and the team intends to stay at least through the end of its contract in 2012.

"He said they have no plans to leave before 2012, and their first choice is to stay in Tucson, but they need more teams," he said. "And we understand that."

Hall could not be reached the Wednesday before the Thanksgiving holiday. A message at the Diamondbacks' offices said they would be closed until Monday.

Huckelberry said the departure of all the spring-training teams would be a "disaster" and that it's essential for the community to secure a funding source for future stadium improvements and to recruit more teams.

"We're doing our best, and I assume the city is, too, as well as the Sports Authority, to find the means to renovate Hi Corbett and make other investments that will keep these teams here and attract another team, if not two," Huckelberry said, referring to the city-owned Hi Corbett Field, where the Rockies train.

The Diamondbacks' contract with the county allows the team to legally break the contract if fewer than two teams are playing in Tucson. That means if the Rockies leave, the Diamondbacks could too.

And if the Diamondbacks leave under those circumstances, the White Sox wouldn't have to pay.

The Rockies' contract with the city runs through 2011, but it allows the team to leave if there are fewer than three teams, which, with the departure of the White Sox, there are.

The White Sox are leaving Tucson to play in a new stadium in Glendale built largely with funding from the Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority.

In a memo to the Board of Supervisors, Huckelberry said Pima County needs parity with Maricopa County to compete for major-league teams.

Huckelberry said that if the Diamondbacks also left before their contract was up, the county would ask for monetary damages, similar to what the White Sox are paying, in addition to the extra damages assessed to the Sox.

The White Sox have agreed to pay the county $5 million to break their contract with the county. They also have agreed not to entice other teams to the Phoenix area and to encourage other major-league teams to relocate to Tucson for spring training. The White Sox also will share plans for a youth tournament site at Tucson Electric Park that the team developed as part of an earlier buyout offer.

Huckelberry added the condition that the team pay more money if the Diamondbacks leave to the final wording of the termination agreement. The Board of Supervisors will vote on the agreement on Tuesday.