The Blue Jays will call Buffalo or Dunedin home after Rogers Centre pitch strikes out
The Blue Jays will play their home games in Buffalo, N.Y. or Dunedin, Fla. this season after the federal government rejected a plan that would have allowed them to use the Rogers Centre.
Their home opener is scheduled for July 29 against the World Series champion Washington Nationals.
The Jays had presented a 176-page return-to-play proposal to all three levels of government, featuring a modified quarantine at the Rogers Centre and the adjacent hotel, in hopes of an exemption from the 14-day quarantine that applies to the general public when crossing into Canada.
The club has been holding training camp at the Rogers Centre under similar restrictions, but the federal government said staging games would be riskier.
Unlike pre-season training, regular-season games would require repeated cross-border travel of Blue Jays players and staff, as well as opponent teams into and out of Canada. Of particular concern, the Toronto Blue Jays would be required to play in locations where the risk of virus transmission remains high," Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Marco Mendicino said in a statement.
Based on the best available public health advice, we have concluded the cross-border travel required for MLB regular season play would not adequately protect Canadians' health and safety."
In a statement, Jays president and CEO Mark Shapiro said the club respects the decision.
From the onset of discussions with league and government officials, the safety of the broader community - our fans - and the team remained the priority of everyone involved," Shapiro said.
Though our team will not be playing home games at Rogers Centre this summer, our players will take the field for the 2020 season with the same pride and passion representative of an entire nation. We cannot wait until the day comes that we can play in front of our fans again on Canadian soil."
The club added that it was still in the process of finalizing a home location.
The home of their triple-A affiliate, the Buffalo Bisons, is believed to be the favourite. The club's stadium, Sahlen Field, opened in 1988, however, and inferior lighting is among the shortcomings.
We have been making plans over the last several days to see what it would take to get our ballpark ready should this scenario arise," Mike Buczkowski, president of Rich Baseball Operations, told the Buffalo News on Saturday. But we have no definite yes' that the games will be played here at this time."
Later, Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown tweeted: I would love to see the Blue Jays play at Sahlen Field."
The Jays spring base in Dunedin, meanwhile, is in a state where the rate of new cases of COVID-19 has been hitting record highs daily.
In a statement, Toronto Mayor John Tory said he understood Saturday's decision: All governments worked well together to try to reach a positive answer on this but we all knew there was no easy answer notwithstanding the incredibly detailed protocols put forward by everyone associated with the Blue Jays and Major League Baseball."
Earlier this week, the Ontario government supported the Blue Jays' plan to play in Toronto. In an email Saturday, Ivana Yelich, Premier Doug Ford's spokesperson, told The Canadian Press: Our government's number one priority will always be the health and well-being of Ontarians."
The Jays are scheduled to open the regular season on Friday in Tampa, Fla.
Laura Armstrong is a Star sports reporter based in Toronto. Follow her on Twitter: @lauraarmy