Jays get used to new ways

Training starts in Florida with hopes of Toronto

In these unusual and uncertain times, it was about as close to business as usual for the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday morning at the team’s Florida headquarters in Dunedin, Fla.

Players arrived and shared excitement for the season (strange and uncertain as it is) that awaits. They caught up on life in the quarantine (as opposed to a normal off-season hiatus) and as much as possible enjoyed the camaraderie of a COVID-19 clubhouse.

And then there were the tests, assuredly the most unpleasant piece of business of the reunion and one that will soon become part of the ball players’ regimen, a task not nearly as enjoyable as the usual routines around the batting cage and bullpen.

No one is getting too settled in at TD Ballpark just yet, however, as it is still believed the stay at the team’s spring training base will be short-lived.

The Jays are under the impression the team will be on its way north for the bulk of training camp, possibly as soon as Saturday. While there had been hope that flight would have occurred first on Wednesday and then Friday, it would hardly be a worst-case development given the lingering uncertainty of where they will be based for the postponed and abbreviated 60-game season.

Officially, the team is still awaiting final clearance from the federal government to proceed to Toronto where the team is intent to conduct close to three weeks of training camp under modified quarantine conditions. Though each team is allowed to host as many as three exhibition games, intrasquad contests are another possible means of preparation for the season.

Those around the team are clinging to the belief that a charter will be on its way by the weekend.

With clearance from the feds still delayed, the Jays opted to mobilize in Dunedin to at least get the medical testing for the virus out of the way. TD Ballpark also remains as the prime backup plan for the regular season.

Once in Canada, the Jays plan to work under a quarantine environment, staying at the hotel attached to the Rogers Centre and practising on the field below. The stadium’s grounds crew has been working on readying the field this week.

While the team has said little about the developments, Jays president and CEO Mark Shapiro has been working behind the scenes with federal, provincial and municipal governments. It is believed the final issues involve quarantining players from visiting teams once the regular season begins.

With close to a month to

THE TESTS ... THE MOST UNPLEASANT PIECE OF BUSINESS.

work out those details, the Jays are confident they can run a safe, effective and responsible training camp at the Rogers Centre.

Meanwhile, Canada Day was never supposed to be like this for the Jays, of course. Always a highlight of the team’s home calendar, on the original 2020 schedule a Wednesday matinee was slated to be the finale of a three-game series at the Rogers Centre against the Chicago White Sox.

That plan scuttled by the pandemic, it was then supposed to be the report date back in Toronto for players to be tested for COVID-19 and to get settled in for first workouts on Friday, the first day such gatherings are permitted under MLB’s back-towork plans.

The Tampa Bay Times has reported the Jays will open the season on July 24 against the Rays in St. Pete.