Will the AZ Diamondbacks move spring training out of tucson

The Arizona Diamondbacks have told Tucson and Pima County officials that they will move their spring training base out of Tucson Electric Park after 2010. The move came after the Colorado Rockies notified the city and county that they would move from Hi Corbett Field, leaving the Diamondbacks as the only major league team in Tucson.

The Diamondbacks, who have wintered in Tucson since their inception in 1998, have been searching for a new spring training site in the Phoenix area. The Chicago White Sox moved their spring training base to the Phoenix area this year. The Rockies and Diamondbacks both have clauses in their leases enabling the teams to leave Tucson unless there are at least three major league teams located in the city for spring training.

"This decision comes with mixed emotions, as we obviously have a deep history with and genuine fondness for Tucson,'' Diamondbacks president Derrick Hall said in a statement. "With the current environment of spring training in Southern Arizona having led to the Colorado Rockies' recent and formal decision to relocate, we find ourselves in the undesirable position as the only MLB team operating there beyond 2010.'' Hall said it would be unreasonable for the Diamondbacks to endure a two-hour drive to play opponents in any other spring training facility.