Jays: Top prospects invited to camp

Some of the Blue Jays’ top prospects are among a group of 58 players invited to a second training camp that looks more and more like it will land in Toronto this week.

Team president Mark Shapiro has yet to receive government approval for the Jays to host the camp. Shapiro said Friday he has been speaking to “all three levels of government.”

But two sources said Sunday that players were told last week to expect Toronto to be home to both the camp and regularseason games. Major-league camps can open as early as Wednesday, with the 60-game season starting July 23 or 24.

Once Toronto is approved, the players will be divided into cohort groups for testing and workouts. It is believed they will be housed in the hotel attached to the Rogers Centre.

Buffalo will likely serve as a workout site for players in the group who do not break camp with the 30-man roster that will open the regular season.

Toronto’s spring complex in Dunedin, Fla., remains a fallback plan if the team’s protocols, which Shapiro said go “above and beyond” MLB’s operations manual for the return of baseball, fail to gain government approval.

The Jays shut down both their major- and minor-league facilities in Dunedin on June 19 after “multiple” players and staff tested positive for the virus.

The Jays’ 58-player group includes a number of top prospects, among them pitchers Nate Pearson, Alex Manoah and Simeon Woods Richardson, shortstop Jordan Groshans, and catcher Alejandro Kirk. Toronto has two open spots, one of which will likely go to 2020 first-round pick Austin Martin, if and when he signs with the Jays.