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Pima County might have found a spring training replacement for the Chicago White Sox — in Japan.

A professional Japanese baseball team could inhabit Tucson Electric Park as early as 2010 if a proposal announced Wednesday is approved by the county.

The Pima County Sports and Tourism Authority has spent months in discussions with Baseline Group, a Massachusetts-based firm that focuses on player evaluation and development. The firm also helps American teams establish relationships with Japanese and Korean teams.

Tuesday, Baseline CEO Adam White sent a proposal to Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry to try to create a year-round, international training facility at TEP.

Under the proposal, a Japanese team would play 13 to 15 Cactus League games.

Baseline would also establish an extended spring training and instructional league team to compete against squads run by the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks, Tucson's two spring training clubs.

In November, the White Sox paid $5 million to buy out their lease and move to Glendale.

The Japanese team has not been named, but White said his company "wouldn't be doing this if we weren't comfortable" that a team was willing to come to Tucson.

Dan Schneider, a former big-leaguer and member of the authority, said the group met with Major League Baseball representatives in December during the Las Vegas Winter Meetings.

He said the league was "very, very open" to a Japanese team in the Cactus League, but "there is still a lot of negotiations and agreements to be made before there is a commitment to that concept."

Baseline also wants to create and own a minor-league team composed of a Japanese player base to compete in America.

The proposal details a youth and amateur sports facility that could be ready as early as this fall, run by former major leaguers employed by Baseline.

By 2012, the facility would host up to 80 tournaments per season, the proposal said.

"We're really excited about what can happen down there," said White, whose company would relocate to Tucson. "It's a unique opportunity in that it's a vacant baseball facility. Then there are just some good opportunities in the Pacific Rim. It all goes together. It works out nicely, especially with the youth facility."

Under the deal, Baseline would have exclusive use of the southern TEP complex for 15 years. The group would have the option to buy the complex for up to $15 million, plus two of the Diamondbacks' practice fields across Ajo Way for up to $1 million.

Pima County would pay an estimated $30,000 for Japanese officials to visit Tucson and view the complex, and up to $100,000 for Baseline to travel to Japan and South Korea over the next 12 months.

In return, the county would receive 15 percent of spring-training ticket revenue and 75 percent of parking revenue. The rest — concessions, sponsorship, media and other revenue — would go to Baseline. The same revenue structure would apply to any minor-league team.

Baseline requested a $200,000- per-year allotment to pay for field maintenance, electricity costs and stadium operation fees in 2010 and 2011. Starting in 2012, it would pay those costs without county assistance.

The Sports and Tourism Authority has been exploring the possibility of bringing a Japanese team here since April, said its chairman, Tom Tracy.

At the Rockies' recommendation, the authority contacted the firm founded by Mike Pagliarulo, an 11-year Major League veteran. Pagliarulo visited Tucson Electric Park late last year, White said.

The plan is not contingent on either the Rockies or Diamondbacks remaining in Southern Arizona.

The Rockies' Hi Corbett Field lease expires in 2011; the Diamondbacks' TEP lease expires in 2012. Both can break their leases early because there are now only two teams in Tucson.

Tracy said he expects both teams to "make it through their lease," but said he knows "they are talking to other cities in Phoenix."

The Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation is involved in preliminary talks to build a spring training stadium, The Arizona Republic reported this week.

In November, a Diamondbacks spokesman said the team was looking at several possible sites, including the Gila River Indian Community.

The authority will again present a bill to the Legislature — which opens Monday — to move toward creating a taxing authority, pending voter approval.

Tracy said a Japanese team could have a positive impact on spring training's future here.

"It could help with all those kinds of things," he said. "It works to enhance our brand."