ORANGE COUNTY, Fla.,None — Local businessman Armando Gutierrez and Orange County Mayor Rich Crotty announced Thursday that a minor league baseball team is coming to Orlando.
Mayor Crotty had been in talks with the owners of the Yankees to bring the "Single-A" Tampa Yankees to town. Currently, the team plays its games at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa.
Gutierrez is planning to build a brand new minor league baseball stadium and a sports-themed museum, if he can complete the deal to become a part-owner of the team. The estimated cost of the new stadium is said to be approximately $25 million.
One of America's favorite pastimes could come to Orlando in the form of one of the biggest names in baseball.
"We look forward to making Mr. Steinbrenner's family very proud of what we're going to do in Central Florida," Gutierrez said.
Gutierrez, who has partnered with the Yankees, stood with Orange County Mayor Rich Crotty to formally announce plans to construct a multi-million dollar baseball stadium and museum in the county for the Single A minor league Yankees.
WFTV asked how he could make it happen.
"A lot of people have approached us to invest. You know, we've got multiple options on how to pay for this, but before we even get to that; we need to find a place to put it," Gutierrez said.
Orange County offered 12 to 15 acres of county-owned land to the Yankees minor league team. It's mostly trees and brush, but eventually a possible miniature Yankee stadium could sit there.
It's about a $2 million plot of land, directly across from SeaWorld. The mayor said it isn't free, but there would likely be an incentive if the team chooses Orlando.
Currently, the mayor says no tax dollars are involved, but he couldn't make any promises.
"It's not going to change in four more months, I'll tell you that. There's no ask of the Orange County tax payers and that's one of the areas we need to show extreme caution," Crotty said.
Orange County has asked for Gutierrez and the Yankees to present architectural drawings and details in order to outline the specifics of this land deal.
Gutierrez says he wants to have the minor league Yankees playing by 2013, or the team might look elsewhere to move.
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