One of the concerns of the Reds brass in Florida right now is negotiating to improve the spring training facilities and keep them in Sarasota. According to Outside the Box in the Cincinnati Post this week, the Reds are in early discussions with the Pittsburgh Pirates about the possibility of opening a joint spring training facility in Sarasota.

The Reds contract on Ed Smith Stadium, the current spring training facility, expires in 2008. Dual-team spring training complexes have met with success in Arizona and the Reds say a single building might be more likely to receive government backing and funding than separate buildings for each team, or even renovations for each team.

According to our buddy Joliet Jake at Bucco Blog, the Pirates' spring training stadium is the only spring training stadium without lights, and the fact that they can't have night games has been a point of contention between the team and the city of Bradenton. He suspects the Pirates are only talking to the Reds to pressure the city into installing the lights or risk losing the team to Sarasota. The Pirates' contract on their spring training stadium, McKechnie Field, expires in 2011.

An article in the Bradenton Herald says the local businesses enjoy an $11 million boost every year from spring training, so certainly the city has an interest in keeping the team. This would, indeed, be a powerful bluff for the Pirates to make. The Reds, on the other hand, don't have anything apparent to gain from lying about wanting a dual stadium, and it wouldn't be Reds' CEO Bob Castellini's style to play games anyway.

In any event, even if the city builds the joint stadium for just the Reds to use as soon as 2008, nothing's going to happen immediately. Pirates fans still better stock up on the sunblock.