Crunch time for Dunedin: Shapiro

Jays president says facilities need upgrades

TORONTO • The Blue Jays’ new president says it’s now or never for Dunedin.

At the moment, the Jays prefer to keep their springtraining complex in Dunedin, Fla., Mark Shapiro says. But if Dunedin cannot deliver “a state- of- the- art, top- notch facility,” he says, the club could decide by this summer to move elsewhere.

The Jays are “very close” to presenting Dunedin officials with a list of specific upgrades required to keep the team in the Gulf Coast city, Shapiro said during an interview on Sportsnet 590 The Fan.

“There’ ll reach a point sometime, whether it’ s spring or early summer, where we say yes or no — it’s going to happen there or it’s not,” he said. “And if it’s no, we’ll exhaust every alternative.”

The Blue Jays have staged spring training in Dunedin since their inception in 1977. The facilities — split into two locations — fall well below major- league standards, in terms of size, amenities and convenience. The team’s agreement with Dunedin expires at the end of 2017.

The main stadium site cannot be expanded because it is hemmed in on two sides by public buildings and on the other two by streets. Therefore, staying in Dunedin would likely mean continuing to use two venues, Shapiro said.

“It’s less than ideal but it’s still workable,” he said.

However, he said, Dunedin’s location is an advantage because it is relatively close to other spring- training sites, which minimizes travel times for exhibition games.

Naturally, city officials are eager to keep the Jays, who have provided an annual boost to the local economy for four decades. The club’s Class A minor- league team plays there in the summer and the Jays use the facilities year-around for rehab, training and workouts by players who live in the area.

Talks have dragged on for years in a bid to improve and expand the facilities, but to date have been fruitless.

“The plan would be this: to articulate what our needs are ( and) to do everything humanly possible to work a deal out with Dunedin, because I think that’s still in our best interests,” Shapiro said. “I think if you look geographically in the state of Florida, that’s still the best place to be.”

Shapiro said he and Matthew Shuber, the Jays’ vicepresident of business affairs and in- house legal counsel, have met with Dunedin officials in Florida. Meanwhile, the Jays are preparing a detailed outline of their requirements.

Presumably, Dunedin taxpayers would be expected to cover part of the costs, although Shapiro did not address that issue in his radio interview.

“I’m most c oncerned about where we’re going to be for 365 days a year down there,” he said. “I want the major- league side to be a state-of-the-art, top-notch facility, but (also important is) where we train, where we rehabilitate, where we look at putting our players all year round.”

While he was general manager in Cleveland, Shapiro moved the team from sub- standard facilities in Winter Haven to Arizona. Before doing so, he searched for suitable alternatives in Florida and found none, he said.