Should the Milwaukee Brewers Stay at Maryvale?

The Milwaukee Brewers have had their spring training facilities at Maryvale Baseball Park for quite some time, dating back to 1998 when they first moved into the compound after spending time in other Arizona venues such as Tempe, Sun City, and Chandler.

Within the last couple of years, there has been talking about the Milwaukee Brewers finding a new Spring Training Facility. As it stands right now, the Brewers not only have their Major League Spring Training at Maryvale Baseball Park, but they also have an Arizona League Team that plays Rookie Ball there.

Besides the Rookie Ball League entry, the team uses various facilities in Arizona for “Extended Spring Training” and they have an existing entry in the Arizona Fall League.

While the Milwaukee Brewers may consider moving to another location outside of the Maryvale Complex because they would like something that is more updated or spacious, there have been some issues with what the Phoenix AZ area is willing to do for improvements

The Cubs were able to obtain a new Spring Training facility in Mesa. Most recently, the Arizona Diamondbacks have been trying to find a new full-time major league park in the Phoenix area. Because of the other parks that are in play, the funding and support for improvements to Maryvale for the Brewers might not be very easy to come by.

Even though the Milwaukee Brewers have called Maryvale their “Spring Training Home” for several years, the talk about the Milwaukee Brewers potentially moving somewhere else has been quiet. In fact, when I wanted to find out more about the ballpark situation, the website AZCentral.com as well as the Arizona State Press, did not even get back to me with a comment.

I also tried contacting Matt Kerls, who is the coordinator of the Arizona Spring Training Complex. Other contacts I made beside him were the Phoenix New Times, the AZ Republic, the Phoenix Herald, the Phoenix Local Government via their Parks and Rec section, KNXV 15 ABC, KNIX 102.5 FM, and also Ted Houston at KFYI AM 550.

One person who responded was Chris Shaheen, who is the Stadium Manager at Maryvale Baseball Park.  Chris said that he didn’t know anything about the “Spring Training Development” story either. I guess as a Brewer fan; I would like to know if the Brewers are moving their Spring Training to a new facility for the first time in many years.

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Of course, there has been some talk of the Brewers moving out of Arizona entirely. That would be huge news in my book since they have always been in the “Cactus League.”

Unfortunately, despite my efforts to find out more and “dig up” a better idea of what is going on, nobody is actually saying much of anything at this point. I hate to say “Just wait and see” but the truth is these developments and changes sometimes take a while.

Personally, I hope the Brewers stay in Maryvale and work something out, although I have been told the location is not the finest. If the Brewers do leave Maryvale, I at least hope they do not leave Arizona. The crew training in Florida just would not sit well with me. I don’t even like Grapefruit. You shouldn’t either!