- February 9, 2026
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A new $23 million player development complex has officially opened at the Baltimore Orioles’ spring training headquarters in Sarasota. Project supporters cut the ribbon Monday at the new facility at Ed Smith Stadium, celebrating the year-round opportunities it will provide for athletes.
“It’s been a dream for us for a few years,” Mike Elias, Orioles president of baseball operations, said at the ribbon cutting. The 45,000-square-foot complex will be a “huge advantage for us as we train and try to get our players better.”
Located next to the stadium at 1090 N. Euclid Ave., north of downtown Sarasota, the complex contains a new pitching lab and batting cages, player lounge, classroom space and outdoor agility field, among other amenities. Project officials said the facility will be used year-round by the Orioles, the Minor Leagues and for tournaments. It is equipped with the latest technology, such as cameras that track ball speed and other metrics, and provides a weatherproof training ground for athletes.
“This facility is important. It is a signal of our commitment to Sarasota,” Catie Griggs, Orioles president of business operations, said at the event. “Investing in this complex is symbolic of our commitment, but also to our commitment to the Major League, Minor League, tournament baseball and the community.”
The player development complex broke ground after the 2025 spring training season and opened Monday for Orioles players ahead of the team's Feb. 20 spring opener.
Fawley Bryant Architecture designed the project, while Tandem Construction built it. Both firms are headquartered in Lakewood Ranch.
“It is very impressive that they accomplished it in less than one year," Sarasota County Commission Chair Ron Cutsinger said at the ribbon cutting. “It's exciting to know that the players already got to get in here and for the first time today used the facility."
While the Orioles footed most of the bill for the $23 million complex, Sarasota County contributed nearly $1.77 million, according to a county spokesperson. Sarasota County has owned Ed Smith Stadium since it bought it from the city of Sarasota in 2009. The Baltimore Orioles have used it as their spring training home since 2010.
Inside the new player development complex in Sarasota are multiple spaces designed to enhance the athletes' experience, according to Matt Blood, Orioles vice president of player and staff development.
A nearly 1,700-square-foot player lounge is equipped with foosball tables, ping-pong and a nutrition center while an 1,800-square-foot classroom provides room for learning, scouting, analytics and planning.
"We just really believe that infrastructure and player experience matter," Blood said during a media tour of the complex. "Throughout the space, there's a lot of intentionality, in the way the cages were designed, in our classrooms and in the [biomechanics] lab ... allowing them to better train, and hopefully either get better feedback loops or just the ability to train in a more efficient way."
The 3,400-square-foot biomechanics lab is a place where players can work on pitching and hitting. It will feature 37 cameras and technology supporting biomechanical analysis, pitch design, swing adjustments and performance feedback. The lab will help players with both hitting and pitching, an upgrade from the Orioles' facility in Bel Air, Maryland, which just focuses on pitching.
Taking center stage at the complex are four square batting cages totaling nearly 16,000 square feet. They enable hitters to better track ball flight in a game-like setting with nets that can be lifted to convert the space into a full infield. The turf is the same used in Major League Baseball stadiums.
Outside, a 33,430-square-foot outdoor turf agility field provides a place for players to focus on speed, movement, conditioning, rehab and injury prevention. It is double the size of the previous agility area.
It features turf with sand and rock underneath, the same kind used by the Toronto Blue Jays and Texas Rangers, according to Drew Wolcott, Orioles Florida director of grounds and operations.
"It'll help cool down the field by up to 25 degrees, so when everybody else in Florida is on their artificial turf field, heating up ... we're still staying cool out here," Wolcott said during the media tour. "We're able to get players out here ... on days when it's raining, overcast [and] they want a different type of playability."
There is also an "eight pack" where pitchers and catchers can practice mound work. "Keeping them out of the elements and not losing time on the mounds is extremely important," Trevor Markham, Orioles senior director of Florida operations, said.
Finally, there is a space roped off for fans to watch players train at the new complex — a feature that has not been available before.
