TORONTO – Sometime this summer, the Blue Jays hope to make their way back to Toronto and play their home games at Rogers Centre – maybe even with some fans in attendance.
For now, that’s not realistic, though, so Toronto is just one of three regular-season home sites in the mix for the Blue Jays in 2021. As pitchers and catchers officially report to spring training, there’s still no predicting how likely a return to Toronto is this summer.
“I wish I could,” Blue Jays president and CEO Mark Shapiro said on a media call Thursday. “What I can say with complete certainty is that’s where we want to be. What I can also say with confidence is that we’re not going to push the issue if we don’t think it can be done safely.”
As first reported by Sportsnet, the Blue Jays will begin the year in Dunedin, Fla., with formal plans to play there through May 2. In all likelihood their stay in Florida will last longer than that, with roughly 1,000 fans admitted per game, but Shapiro said "it’s safe to say" they won’t spend the whole season there.
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Where the Blue Jays go from Dunedin depends on a few variables that are impossible to predict in late February. Ideally, COVID-19 case counts would drop in the months ahead and vaccinations would become readily available for fans, players and staff alike. In that scenario, the Blue Jays could formally ask Canadian governments for permission to play out of Toronto, something they did not do while finalizing their latest plans.
If a mid-season return to Toronto seems possible, the club could extend its Dunedin stay into June, even though the Florida heat makes playing conditions less than ideal at that time of year. But until there’s more clarity on the availability of vaccinations, it’s hard to say whether that’ll be possible.
“There will be no effort made by the league or an individual team to jump ahead (of the queue)," Shapiro said. "Major League Baseball has some reason to believe to be optimistic that it’s going to happen here at some time in spring. And certainly, we’ll encourage not just our players but also support staff in Tier 1 and Tier 2 around our team to take the vaccine, to ensure as safe an environment as possible. That is our fastest path probably to playing in Toronto.”
If a return to Toronto looks as challenging in a few months as it does now, the Blue Jays would then target a return to Buffalo, where they played most of their 2020 home games. That would give players a break from the Florida heat while displacing their triple-A team (an alternate site would be required, as the Blue Jays don’t want their triple-A team to spend all of its time on the road).
It would also require further renovations to Sahlen Field, even after all the work that went into making it playable in 2020.
“What we did last year was very temporary and is really no longer available to us,” Shapiro said. “What we need to do to have Buffalo be playable this year is hopefully provide a more lasting and permanent solution that our triple-A player can benefit from.”
In Florida, some modifications will be required at TD Ballpark to ensure it’s safe and up to MLB standards for home and visiting players. Among the most noticeable changes will be the installation of four additional light towers, but smaller changes will also happen to allow for physical distancing while training, dressing and dining.
"Temporary spaces are going to need to be put in place for the visiting team," Shapiro said. "What we’ve got there now is just too small."
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At this point, the Blue Jays haven’t determined whether their primary base will be TD Ballpark itself or the club’s development facility, which is located further North in Dunedin a short bus trip away.
Between the lines, the ballpark will likely favour hitters, particularly those from the left side. But while life might be more challenging for Blue Jays pitchers, their lineup is well positioned to score a lot of early-season runs.
“It is a hitters’ park,” catcher Danny Jansen said. “I think it plays a little smaller, and plays to right field a bit, a little bit more than left field. We’re going to have to deal with it and act accordingly.”
The temporary relocation to Dunedin means the Blue Jays will be playing big-league games within an hour’s drive of a division rival, but the Rays have been "incredibly supportive," according to Shapiro, who added: "we’re not trying to take their fans."
Meanwhile, the Blue Jays’ Vancouver affiliate faces a similar challenge as the only Canadian team in the new high-A West division. While the specifics of the Vancouver team’s schedule are still being resolved, it’s clear they’ll need to get creative and find an alternate home site before their first scheduled home game on May 11.
“We can’t play in Vancouver and we’re still working through that,” Shapiro said.
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