Just 11 days before the Toronto Blue Jays were scheduled to play their first home game of the 2020 regular season at the Rogers Centre, the team was denied a federal government exemption to stage MLB games at home by the Canadian government, forcing the organization to scramble to find a home field.
Early reports indicated that the Blue Jays were likely to settle in either Buffalo – the home of the teams’ Class AAA affiliate – or Dunedin, Florida, its spring training location, but players reportedly preferred playing in an actual MLB stadium.
The Blue Jays then seemed close to working out a deal to play in Pittsburgh for 2020. The Pirates offered the Blue Jays the use of PNC Park as a home location, but the Pennsylvania Department of Health stepped in to deny the Blue Jays, citing the risks of constant travel in and out of Pittsburgh during a pandemic.
The Athletic then reported that the Blue Jays were in talks with the Baltimore Orioles about potentially using Camden Yards in 2020, pending the permission of Maryland government officials.
Instead, with five days to go until the home opener, the Jays announced on Friday that they will play the “greater part” of their home games at Sahlen Field in Buffalo. The dimensions of the field are very close to those of the Rogers Centre, so there shouldn’t be a great impact on the on-field performance.
