MLB: Jays heading back to Montreal for pre-season series with Cards

The Toronto Blue Jays will play a two-game pre-season series in Montreal next year against the St. Louis Cardinals.

The games will be played at Olympic Stadium on March 26 and 27, the Blue Jays announced Thursday on their Twitter feed.

It’s the fifth straight year that the Blue Jays have played pre-season games in Montreal.

“We always look forward to playing in front of our fans in Montreal,” Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro said in a release. “The atmosphere at Olympic Stadium over the last few years has been truly special, and is a reminder of the passion for baseball that exists in Quebec, and how far reaching the Blue Jays fan base truly extends.”

The Expos played in Montreal before moving to Washington at the end of the 2004 season.

The Blue Jays will open the 2018 regular season on March 29 against the New York Yankees at Rogers Centre. JETER TO THE FOUR: Derek Jeter has about a 4 per cent stake in the group buying the Miami Marlins and retired NBA great Michael Jordan approximately half of one per cent, part of a $1.2 billion purchase from Jeffrey Loria that includes $800 million in cash.

Bruce Sherman, who will become the controlling owner, has the highest equity stake in the group, about 46 per cent according to details obtained by The Associated Press. The figures were provided by a person who spoke on condition of anonymity because they had not been announced.

Jeter, the former New York Yankees captain who led the team to five World Series titles, will head the team’s baseball and business operations.

“He understands that people are watching and he understands that he’s not being judged by the fact that he can play shortstop for the New York Yankees and get world championships that way,” outgoing Marlins president David Samson said Thursday. “It’s a whole new game and he knew it from Day One.”

The incoming group, unanimously approved by baseball owners on Wednesday, will assume $100 million in the team’s debt and is restructuring an additional $300 million of the club’s debt. The sale is scheduled to close Monday, the day after the regular season ends.

WAITING FOR RODON: Chicago White Sox starter Carlos Rodon had arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder and could miss the beginning of next season, general manager Rick Hahn said.

Hahn said Thursday the left-hander should miss six to eight months after the surgery, which revealed significant bursitis, which was removed in Wednesday’s surgery.

Rodon, 24, missed nearly the first three months of the season with shoulder and biceps problems and went 2-5 with a 4.15 ERA in 12 starts before returning to the disabled list on Sept. 8.

“We’ll know more about the specifics of the timing when Carlos completes his rehab and begins throwing in spring training,” Hahn said.

In three seasons, Rodon is 20-21 with a 3.95 ERA.