Could Minor League baseball be coming to Orlando?

ORLANDO, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35, Orlando) - Could a Minor League baseball team be on its way to Central Florida? That’s the big question. At this time, there is no idea of how much it would cost to build a stadium to house a minor league team, and those trying to bring a minor league team here aren’t ready to discuss it.

Businessman Armando Gutierrez told a packed house Thursday, ’We have multiple options for financing for this project. We are going to get in more details as the project develops.’

However, it’s no doubt it will be a lot, but FOX 35 has learned it’s not your money. The Mayor of Orange County promises that you will not be on the hook for the construction.

Mayor Rich Crotty told us, ’We have made a commitment not to engage in taxpayer money at this point and there is no plan to do that.’ So, it looks like if the Yankees Single A team moves from Tampa to Orlando, they would likely play on a county owned piece of property just off International Drive and the beach line near SeaWorld.

If they can make a deal for the land the team would have a long term lease. The site is favorable, because it’s in the tourist district and just feet away from the Orange County Convention Center. But if we are going to get a team in Orlando, the stadium must be built before the team gets here. What does that mean for you? The mayor says jobs!

But what they will be and who will get them, that’s still up in the air. There are all sorts of things to be talked about, and not to be talked about now, but as this thing unfolds those are some of the topics to be discussed. There will be jobs and they will be local.