Sox to Sarasota? More Ramblings…
I hate to say, “I told you so,” but, I told you so.
Over the last few months, I’ve warned of other media outlets sacrificing accuracy for speed. Now, more evidence of at least one local paper spitting out what I called “superfluous speculation without much sustenance” on the Red Sox/Sarasota saga.
Yesterday, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune wrote that the Red Sox had issued Sarasota an August deadline to make some progress on their stadium proposal. Within a few hours, Red Sox COO Mike Dee issued a statement that read:
“The Boston Red Sox categorically deny that the team has imposed any type of deadline in its discussions with Sarasota officials regarding spring training facilities. The Red Sox view discussions with Sarasota City and County officials as on ongoing process that will run its course in due time. We will continue to explore all options, including Lee County and Sarasota, pertaining to our spring training operations.”
We also obtained an email from Sarasota County Commissioner Joe Barbetta to the Herald-Tribune writer who penned the article:
“As we discussed on the phone well over an hour ago, your story on the wire service is wrong and the headline is irresponsible. Again, as I told you, the Red Sox have never put any pressure on the process and have never set a deadline…I implore you to remove the story from the wire service and to not have it run in tomorrow’s paper. It has already caused considerable heartache and numerous phone calls from Fort Myers and local TV Stations and Press, and could deal a serious blow to the entire process. Furthermore, as I mentioned to you on numerous occasions, please stop using the $70 million dollar figure since we have no set estimates yet and that number is mere speculation.”
There’s that word “speculation” again. So much of this deal is speculation. Only Mike Dee and the Sox can do more than speculate which county will wind up with Boston’s spring training services. But at least Lee Co. isn’t committing sins like Sarasota.
Sarasota officials seem to be feeding the media propaganda (which in this case, backfired) so they can drum up support that may not be there right now. Remember, Sarasota residents twice shot down Spring Training-funding referendums.
In Lee Co., however, officials are quietly working with the Sox behind the scenes to make sure they can keep the team here for another few decades. Kudos for that.