Jays to play most ‘home’ games in Buffalo

TORONTO — Rebuffed by government authorities on both sides of the border and with home dates fast approaching, the Toronto Blue Jays finally locked down a ballpark to call their own on Friday.

Sahlen Field in Buffalo, New York, will serve as a temporary home for Canada’s only Major League Baseball team, which was forced to look beyond Rogers Centre due to restrictions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Blue Jays announced the decision Friday, hours before the team’s season opener at Tampa Bay.

“We’re extremely happy to be where we are and feel like it’s going to be a good solution,” said team president Mark Shapiro.

The Blue Jays were displaced after Ottawa rejected a proposal for teams to stay in the hotel at Rogers Centre and not leave the facility footprint during series in Toronto. The club would have needed an exception to the traditional 14-day quarantine from the federal government for the plan to work.

Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Hartford, Connecticut, and Dunedin, Florida, were among the many major- and minor-league options that were considered. The Pirates’ home field, PNC Park, appeared to be a done deal earlier this week but state health officials shut down the plan.

With the clock ticking, the Blue Jays turned to their triple-A affiliate about a two-hour drive down the Queen Elizabeth Way highway.

“We obviously had to make a decision,” Shapiro said on a conference call. “Knowing that we had a very good alternative, albeit not a major-league one, but one we felt could get close to a major-league [level], we made that decision.”

Now the work begins on getting the stadium ready so that it meets MLB playing standards and COVID-19 safety requirements.

Lighting quality is one of the top priorities for players and the television broadcast. Proper clubhouse space is a must while training facilities, batting cages and weight rooms will need to be upgraded to a big-league level.