Atlanta Braves Morning Chop Catch Up Edition

As the calendar pages have been flipped, each week is bringing us just a little closer to baseball, which means there are more stories about the Atlanta Braves.  It’s time to catch up on a few of these.

SARASOTA COUNTY, FL –  Yes, the Atlanta Braves appear to have chosen a new Spring home… though the detailed negotiations are still to be completed.

That said, it does appear that the County itself is excited about the possibility at the official government twitter feed broke the news, complete with a full press release:

From that announcement:

"“There’s still a lot of work to do to finalize the terms, agreements and approvals necessary, but this announcement is a major step forward in the efforts to bring the Braves to our area,” Harmer said. “Continuing to expand sports tourism is high on the county’s list, and the opportunity to bring a major sports anchor to the City of North Port could have a significant impact in south county.” … The planned site is located within the City of North Port, with direct access to U.S. 41 and West Villages Parkway. The city will play an important role in helping finalize the terms and agreements, as well as overseeing any necessary regulatory approvals to advance the project, North Port City Manager Jonathan Lewis said. …"

"The parties to the agreement will be working over the next several months to finalize the terms and move forward with the project. The county plans to provide a public update on the status of the negotiations at the Jan. 24 Board of County Commissioners meeting."

The location is absolutely ideal in terms of minimizing Spring travel in Florida, and sets up two distinct sides of the state for team venues for 2019 and beyond:

ATLANTIC COAST

• Nationals / Astros (West Palm)
• Marlins / Cardinals (Jupiter)
• Mets (Port St. Lucie)

GULF COAST (kinda from north to south)

• Tigers (Lakeland)
• Yankees (Tampa
• Blue Jays (Dunedin)
• Phillies (Clearwater)
• Pirates (Bradenton)
• Orioles (Sarasota)
• Braves (North Port)
• Rays (Port Charlotte)
• Twins / Red Sox (Ft. Myers)

So beginning then, expect to see a lot of the Pirates/Orioles/Rays/Twins/Red Sox on that Spring schedule, along with a smattering of the other clubs.