Last year, the Toronto Blue Jays were forced to play their home games in Buffalo, home of their AAA affiliate, because of the pandemic and, in particular, its impact on the ability of large groups to enter and leave different countries. That is, Canada was not interested in having United States MLB teams in and out of Toronto for a few months. Understandable.
This year, the pandemic is still on everyone’s radar, but you have a complicating factor: the minor league seasons will be played this year, meaning Buffalo will be largely occupied by AAA affiliate Blue Jays playing their own games.
So, to start, the Blue Jays will have to open their season at their spring training location in Dunedin, Florida:
Here are more ideas about the #BlueJays domestic situation: https://t.co/1kHPdcBruH
– Kaitlyn McGrath (@kaitlyncmcgrath) February 18, 2021
The Blue Jays, however, do not expect their stay in Dunedin to last all year, or even most of the year:
#Bluejays President Mark Shapiro said the team does not expect to be in Dunedin for the entire season. “In all honesty, the alternatives for our season lie in some combination of Dunedin, Buffalo and Toronto.”
– Rob Longley (@longleysunsport) February 18, 2021
Say hello to Duneduffalonto Blue Jays!
The return to Toronto will depend on how Canada-USA manages travel restrictions, as well as how the city of Toronto views the setting. And all this, in turn, will depend on the state of the pandemic until the summer, including the launch of vaccines. His optimistic case would be widespread distribution / availability of the vaccine in June, so perhaps the Blue Jays could be a Toronto team again in the second half of the season.