The Toronto Blue Jays received some unfortunate news from the federal government in Canada earlier this week as the team was told that they couldn’t play any of their home games in Toronto during the 2020 MLB season.
With the Blue Jays home opener on July 29 against the Washington Nationals creeping closer and the Rogers Centre no longer serving as an option to host games, the team needs to find a new location to play their 30 scheduled home games during this truncated 60-game season immediately.
The most likely locations for the Blue Jays to temporarily call home during 2020 are Buffalo, New York and Dunedin, Florida. Both of these locations would make sense for the team due to the minor league ties that the club shares with these areas.
The Buffalo Bisons are the Triple-A affiliate of the Blue Jays and the town of Buffalo is incredibly close to Toronto. While the distance between Buffalo and Toronto doesn’t relatively matter since players won’t be crossing the border during the season, it may feel relatively homely for the team.
However, Buffalo’s Sahlen Field does have some drawbacks, too. The Buffalo News reported that the lighting in the stadium in Buffalo “is fine for Triple-A games but would need an upgrade for the major leagues.” Sahlen Field also has smaller facilities than the average MLB team is accustomed to using in the regular season.
A second option would be to play home games in Dunedin, Florida, where the Blue Jays hold Spring Training every year. The team has familiarity with playing games in Dunedin’s TD Ballpark, obviously, but there is a lingering fear over the rise in COVID-19 cases in Florida.
If the team makes Dunedin their home for the 2020 season, they will have much better facilities than the stadium in Buffalo has currently. It’s also unlikely that lighting would be as much of an issue in Dunedin because the Blue Jays normally play televised night games at TD Ballpark during Spring Training with no issues.
The “last-resort” scenario as of now would be to share Tropicana Field with the Tampa Bay Rays.
TSN reporter Scott Mitchell mentioned in June that Tropicana Field could be the Blue Jays’ home for 2020 if MLB couldn’t find a suitable alternative location to host the team.
While playing in Tampa poses similar COVID-19 risks to playing in Dunedin, the team wouldn’t have to worry about their stadium being unfit to host MLB games.
Tropicana Field has long been regarded as one of the worst MLB stadiums, however, it boasts the facilities and lighting for MLB games. Playing in Tampa Bay would also reduce travel for both the Rays and the Blue Jays, along with other teams who would normally play the Rays and Jays during the same road trip during the 2020 season.
Wherever the Blue Jays ultimately decide to call home this season, it will only add to the chaos that is the 2020 MLB season.
