Scarp: D-Backs' spring home in Scottsdale? It's out

Earlier this week I had read news reports - not from this newspaper - about how Scottsdale was interested in talking to the Arizona Diamondbacks about moving their spring training home here from Tucson, so I called some city people to find out if it is too good to be true.

It is.

It's well known that the Chicago White Sox, who share spring training digs at Tucson Electric Park with the Diamondbacks, are making a deal to move their spring operation to the Valley.

Scottsdale courts D-Backs for spring training

That leaves only the Diamondbacks at the park, along with the Colorado Rockies at Hi Corbett Field, as the Old Pueblo's only two teams.

So the Diamondbacks might also want to bolt and head north, goes widespread speculation.

City spokesman Pat Dodds told me Monday that when a reporter called asking if Scottsdale was interested in hosting the Diamondbacks, he checked with the appropriate city staff, whom, he said, hadn't been seriously talking about it, but told Dodds that, sure, we'll call them.

And so a call to team bigwigs will be made, Dodds confirmed Wednesday, although he said he didn't know when.

And so, with the boulder now rolling down the hill, we journalists have to chase it, despite the fact that it had help starting to roll because one of us asked, "Hey, are you interested in the Diamondbacks?"

What was Dodds going to say? "No, absolutely not. They should get lost"?

No, any Valley city would love to get the reputational benefit of hosting our home team. The trouble is, that's about the only benefit there would be, which is why a move to Scottsdale is too good to be true.

There are two reasons for this.

First, we already have a spring training team, the San Francisco Giants, which admittedly haven't been much to look at since the retirement of homerun king (well, currently) Barry Bonds, but don't tell Bay Area folks that. To see their beloved Giants in action, they travel here, fill up plenty of hotel rooms, rack up nice restaurant and bar tabs and buy a hefty amount of stuff at Scottsdale shops and stores.

Diamondbacks fans, by and large, sleep in their own beds and eat in their own kitchens. They're far more likely to buy hot dogs and beers at the ballpark than to repair postgame to downtown-area restaurants that cater to spring baseball fans.

Second, if the Diamondbacks came to Scottsdale, they would have to play home games in one of two places: (a) Scottsdale Stadium, meaning kicking out the Giants, or (b) in a brand new stadium.

Choice (b) is problematic in that the money Maricopa County once had in large amounts to build spring-training ballparks isn't there in those amounts any more, while Scottsdale is facing an up to $35 million budget deficit next year. So there's no new-stadium money.

Moreover, there's no new-stadium land. Big open tracts are at a far greater premium than when Scottsdale last contemplated becoming a two-team town back in the 1990s (ironically, that included the White Sox, which were in Florida at the time).

What's left, even in a sluggish real-estate market, would be available only at Scottsdale prices, far above public treasuries' abilities.

Choice (a) would put the home team and its local fan base (that heads back to work the day after games) in the place of an out-of-town team with out-of-town fans on vacation here for one, two, three or even all four weeks of spring training.

Mentioning again our sluggish economy, what Valley city in its right mind would do that?

"I'm not one to see the logic of pursuing the Diamondbacks," said Scottsdale City Councilman Ron McCullagh, recently re-elected to a second term. "It makes better sense to pursue (a team) from afar."

Mayor-elect Jim Lane said he was skeptical about the prospects of the Diamondbacks coming to Scottsdale, although he said he was always willing to talk "to anybody who calls us."

So the Diamondbacks only work as a spring-training team, at least in the economic-impact department, is if they are based in a home park that's not in the Valley.

That's probably what the management of the team - which is actually laying off some staff itself, although low-performing players are sadly not on the pink-slip list - will probably conclude, along with Tucson and Pima County officials who ultimately will come up with a way to satisfy the Diamondbacks and keep them down south.

Now, if only the Giants would start winning....