PITTSBURGH _ Pending approval from Gov. Tom Wolf, Pennsylvania will borrow a Major League Baseball team for the summer. The Pittsburgh Blue Jays? Don't laugh. It's likely to happen.
The only unfortunate part for area baseball lovers is that they won't be able to sit inside PNC Park, look out at the beautiful skyline and watch Toronto's vagabond franchise, a plucky upstart loaded with young talent.
How PNC Park will house two baseball teams is a topic that picked up steam over the weekend and revved into high gear over the past few days, with talks between MLB and officials from the Pirates and Blue Jays consuming much of Tuesday.
Hazel Mae, a TV reporter for SportsNet in Toronto, tweeted that the Blue Jays were told by MLB to expect to play games in Pittsburgh this season, though Wolf has not yet signed off on the matter. Assuming he does, it should set several things in motion.
Please, hold the jokes about the Penguins trading captain Sidney Crosby into the NHL's Toronto hockey bubble and receiving a baseball team in return.
But seriously, the Blue Jays will need somewhere to live and dress. One option that has been floated includes converting the left-field lounge into Toronto's temporary clubhouse and the Blue Jays renting out one of two hotels across the street from PNC Park.
The goal is to limit the impact on the Pirates, meaning they will not have to adjust their schedule or move out of their clubhouse. The only thing they might have to share is an indoor batting tunnel, and that would be heavily disinfected after each use.
Another concern Pirates officials have broached includes showers _ a small-but-necessary facet of playing sports. Sharing those with the Pirates (who would be on the road when the Blue Jays were here) does not make sense, so it might be as simple as having Blue Jays players shower across the street.
At one point the Pirates and Blue Jays even kicked around a movie-set type of solution, complete with showers and a place to dress; however, the split option seems to be the preference at this point.
In addition to logistics, there's a business end to this too.
The Pirates, according to a source, were already planning on implementing virtual signage this season at the ballpark _ ads you would see on TV but not in-person. That is still expected to happen, and coordination has started with Toronto on how both clubs can utilize that infrastructure.
Furthermore, the two teams have also talked about potentially rotating tarps and the ad placement on those _ whatever the Pirates can do to help Toronto maximize its sponsorship revenue.
It has certainly been a controversial thing in the past, as evidenced by a lawsuit filed last November, but the "jock tax" could also come into play here as a possible benefit for the city.
Those named in that lawsuit included former Penguin Scott Wilson; Kyle Palmieri of the New Jersey Devils; former MLB outfielder Jeff Francoeur; and players unions from the NFL, NHL and MLB. The tax (technically the Non-Resident Sports Facility Usage Fee) takes 3% on all income earned by players while playing in any arena built or maintained with public money.
The Blue Jays playing here would tug four of MLB's top seven payrolls _ the Yankees (1), Red Sox (3), Mets (5) and Phillies (7) _ onto the North Shore, as the Blue Jays, in the American League's East Division, play their crossover games against the National League East.
The Pirates do not stand to have any direct financial benefit, as the Sports & Exhibition Authority technically owns PNC Park. But owner Bob Nutting has been all for this idea from the get-go, believing the additional exposure for Pittsburgh and PNC Park is hardly a bad thing. Around baseball, the Pirates are also viewed as the good guys here, the franchise that cooperated when asked and figured out a way to make this happen.
The part of it that stinks is that fans likely won't be allowed in the ballpark. The only way they'll be able to watch is by purchasing MLB.TV ($59.99 for a yearly subscription) or just the audio for $19.99/year.
AT&T SportsNet, the television home of the Pirates, will help SportsNet _ which broadcasts Blue Jays' games _ figure out the logistics of how to put its show together, although it will not be able to broadcast their games locally.
One, for legal/broadcast rights reasons, but the station is also loaded with programming between Pirates regular season and Penguins playoff games.
Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun first suggested Pittsburgh as a possible landing spot for the Blue Jays after they were prevented from playing home games at Rogers Centre by the Canadian government, the result of quarantine rules and frequent cross-border travel.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported on Sunday that PNC Park was one of the MLB stadiums the Blue Jays were targeting, and we learned later why they liked Pittsburgh so much _ the schedule.
There are just seven conflicting home dates between the teams, and six come Sept. 8 or later.
Furthermore, the one before September _ Wednesday, July 29 _ can be easily remedied; the Blue Jays are scheduled to begin a two-game series that day against the Nationals. Considering they're already in Washington for two on July 27-28, Toronto can simply function as the home team at Nationals Park.
The Blue Jays had also considered potentially playing games in Buffalo, N.Y., and/or Dunedin, Fla., although neither offered a perfect option.
Sahlen Field, home of Toronto's Class AAA affiliate in Buffalo, has substandard lightning and lacked the space to successfully house a major league club, especially when there's an increased focus on social distancing.
Florida was seen as a less-than-desirable option considering the recent COVID-19 spike. Furthermore, Pittsburgh also offers the perfect geographic location: close to Toronto and also 3 { hours south of Buffalo, where the Blue Jays' satellite facility will remain.
Wolf was briefed on the possibility of this happening late Tuesday. A decision is expected Wednesday.
