The Toronto Blue Jays aren’t permitted to play baseball in Canada this year. The Canadian government isn’t permitting teams from the U.S. to cross the border and play games in their home country, so the Jays are looking for a 2020 home in America.
From the revealing around the circumstance, apparently three top picks have risen.
The first and most clear candidate was consistently Buffalo. It’s not a long way from Canada, it’s the place the Blue Jays’ Triple-A affiliate plays and it’s in close to the East coast, where all the Jays’ games will happen in 2020. The issue is that the facilities aren’t up to major-league standards, including the lighting.
As of Monday morning, Jays executives have shown up in Buffalo to evaluate the circumstance and conviction assess the lights and a few suites into additional clubhouse zones would take about seven days, Scott Mitchell of TSN reports. That is acceptable. The Jays open the season on the road in any case, so they have time.
In any case, general manager Russ Atkins said the emphasis is on getting into a major-league facility, as indicated by Dan Shulman.
A subsequent chance is parting Camden Yards with the Orioles. Ben Nicholson-Smith of SportsNet reports that there are “active discussions” with respect to the Jays using Oriole Park at Camden Yards as their “home” for the season. There are 10 games between the teams to play, which leaves only 25 “home” games for the Blue Jays, most likely some of which would discover the Orioles on the road. All things considered, there would likewise be cover where they’d potentially need to play Jays’ games during the day and Orioles’ games around evening time in a similar ballpark, making strategic headaches.
A third chance is PNC Park in Pittsburgh. The Pirates have released the following explanation.
“In an effort to help in the return of the game we all love, we continue to have active discussions with Major League Baseball and the Toronto Blue Jays organization regarding the possibility of hosting home games for the Blue Jays at PNC Park this season. This will be a monumental challenge for our staff, but leaning in to help others is what Pittsburghers do best.
“If we are able to safely accommodate, not only will it bring additional international attention to our city, it will also bring with it jobs and revenue for local hotels, restaurants and other businesses that will support the Blue Jays organization as well as additional visiting teams.”
Presently, the Pirates are in the Central area with the Blue Jays in the East, so there are no games between the two teams. The hunch is it would be much harder for the Pirates and Blue Jays to share a home than it would be for the Orioles and Blue Jays.
One can’t imagine the Blue Jays are keen on having different homes, so right now it would seem that the decision will descend between Buffalo, Pittsburgh and Baltimore. They’ll presumably proceed with conversations with the Pirates, Orioles and Major League Baseball while striving to prepare Buffalo in the event of some unforeseen issue. For the time being, think about the circumstance fluid.
