TORONTO – The Blue Jays are talking to several teams about sharing a major league stadium this season after the Canadian government banned Toronto from playing at its home stadium amid the coronavirus pandemic, CEO Ross Atkins said Monday. .
“We would rather be in a major league facility,” said Atkins.
He declined to identify the teams, but said the Blue Jays have more than five contingency plans.
Canada denied the Blue Jays’ request to play at the Rogers Center because the regular season schedule would require frequent round-trip travel from the United States, where COVID-19 cases are emerging.
Atkins said if the Blue Jays can’t find a major league park, their Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo, New York would be their most likely site for home games.
Atkins said that health and safety are the priority, so the capacity of social distance without compromising the capacity of other social distance teams is important.
Toronto begins the season at Tampa Bay on Friday and is slated to play its first home game on July 29 against defending champion Washington.
The team had been considering playing games at home at its training facility in Dunedin, Florida, which is among the states that are virus hotspots, or Sahlen Field in Buffalo, across the Niagara River from Canada. The players have told management that they want to be in a major league park.
Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro said Saturday that players’ health is a concern in Florida. He said the team has spent more time examining Buffalo in the past few days, but said the stadium has numerous infrastructure challenges.
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