Red Sox exploring potential spring training move

5/1/2008 5:40 PM

BOSTON (AP) -The Boston Red Sox have spoken with officials in Sarasota, Fla., about relocating their spring training home from Fort Myers to the facility that will become vacant when the Cincinnati Reds move to Arizona in two years.

Red Sox spokesman John Blake called the talks preliminary.

``Lee County has been exemplary in the way they've maintained the facility, but the Red Sox needs have changed since 1993,'' Blake said Thursday. ``We're in the very early stages of doing this, but we need to explore our options - whether it's in Lee County or somewhere else.''

The Red Sox moved in 1993 from Winter Haven to Fort Myers, where they have played in the 7,290-seat City of Palms Park, selling out 73 straight games since March 16, 2003. The team can buy its way out of its Fort Myers deal in 2010.

Training in Fort Myers also poses a problem because, other than for the Minnesota Twins across town, road games require a long bus trip north toward Tampa or across the state to a cluster of teams that play in the West Palm Beach area.