One season after playing their home games in Buffalo, New York, the Toronto Blue Jays will call Dunedin, Florida home for at least the start of the 2021 regular season. That's because the still ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and Canadian border restrictions will not allow the Blue Jays to hold games in Toronto.
The club released a statement on Thursday:
"Like all Canadians, we had hoped to see improvements in the public health outlook as we neared the baseball season," the club said in a statement. "With the ongoing Canada-US border closure, the Blue Jays have made the difficult decision to play the first two homestands of the 2021 regular season (through May 2) at TD Ballpark in Dunedin, Fla., with the hopes of a return to play at Rogers Centre as soon as possible."
The bottom line is that so far, we know the Jays are going to host home series against the Angels, Yankees, Nationals, and Braves through May 2. That's the minimum, as it's possible they continue playing there. But the Jays are hoping to return home after that Braves series. At that point, they will make a determination on the next set of near-term home games and whether they can return to Rogers Centre.
"Next to the health and safety of our fans, players and staff, our top priority is returning home to play on Canadian soil as soon as it is safe to do so," the statement continued. "The club has been actively working through plans for what a safe return to Rogers Centre could look like while also scenario planning alternatives. The Blue Jays will re-evaluate the situation and those circumstances will dictate next steps following the first two homestands."
TD Ballpark has similar dimensions to Rogers Centre, save for the right field power alley which spans 354 feet versus 375 feet at the Jays' usual home field.
