On Saturday, the Canadian government officially declined to give the Toronto Blue Jays clearance to play games in the country, either at the Rogers Centre or elsewhere, during the 2020 season. The Blue Jays must now find a new home before the hosting portion of their schedule begins on July 29 against the Washington Nationals.
The obvious candidates to house the Blue Jays for the season are Buffalo, New York -- where Toronto's Triple-A affiliate resides -- and Dunedin, Florida -- where they play spring training. Yet the team appears to have its sight set higher than what either ballpark can offer.
Indeed, right-handed reliever Anthony Bass mentioned on Sunday that the players and management believe finding a big-league facility gives the club its best chance at being competitive, according to TSN's Scott Mitchell. Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun added that Bass said the front office is "determined to try to find a Major League Ballpark for the team to play in."
What that entails is to be determined. From our perspective, though, the Blue Jays have four choices: 1) share with another team; 2) take over an inactive park; 3) settle for a minor-league facility; or 4) some combination of the above. Let's walk through what each option would mean.
1. Share with another team
Under this scenario, the Blue Jays would cohabit with a different club. This seemed to be on the table earlier on, as the Blue Jays had reportedly discussed sharing Tropicana Field with the Tampa Bay Rays. Nothing came of it, however, and it's unclear if those talks can be revived.
There are some obvious practical complications that come with this option, especially as it pertains to scheduling conflicts. On nights the Rays (or whomever) already had a home game, the Blue Jays would either have to alter their schedule to play during the day, or they would have to move those games to a different setting -- be it Dunedin or some other park.
2. Take over an inactive park
A path with less resistance would see the Blue Jays move into an old big-league park, like Turner Field in Atlanta, Georgia, or RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C.
The catch here is that many of the retired ballparks have since been converted to host other sports, like football or soccer. It's unclear if either could be converted for baseball-playing purposes in the allotted time. Between that and the paucity of options, this would appear to be the least likely of the scenarios presented here.
3. Settle for a minor-league facility
The Blue Jays might want a big-league ballpark, but that doesn't guarantee they'll find one. Rather, they might have to settle for a minor-league home.
Mind you, nothing is forcing the Blue Jays to choose between Dunedin and Buffalo. In theory, anyway, the Blue Jays could seek out a higher-end facility to host their games. That might mean they end up playing at the ballparks that usually host the Charlotte Knights or the Durham Bulls. Both of those stadiums are located in North Carolina.
4. Some combination of the above
The Blue Jays would probably prefer not to turn into a barnstorming team that hops between venues all season, but the reality of the situation is they might not have a choice other than to play some games and then some games there.
There's an ongoing global pandemic, after all, and Canada has imposed stricter regulations than the United States in the name of better containing COVID-19.
For as much as this stinks for the Blue Jays players and their families, such logistical issues were foreseeable. MLB had to know there was a chance that a government, local or otherwise, would hold the line in the name of prioritizing public health over professional sports.
Unfortunately for the Blue Jays, they're the only ones impacted so far -- and they're impacted in a way that might force them to travel lightly, and to travel often over the next two-plus months.
