TORONTO (AP) — The displaced Toronto Blue Jays will play in a minor league park in Buffalo, New York, this year after being turned down by the Canadian government and blocked to play in Pittsburgh by the state of Pennsylvania.
TORONTO — The displaced Toronto Blue Jays will play in a minor league park in Buffalo, New York,this year after being turned down by the Canadian government and blocked to play in Pittsburgh by the state of Pennsylvania. The Blue Jays will play “home games” at Sahlen Field in Buffalo, home of the club’s Triple-A affiliate Buffalo Bisons. General manager Ross Atkins had previously said that if team could not find a major league park, Buffalo would be the most likely site for home games. The team sought a major league stadium after the Canadian government declined to allow them to play in Toronto but was unsuccessful. Pennsylvania health officials then rejected a deal to play in Pittsburgh because of rising COVID-19 cases there. The team also held talks with the Baltimore Orioles about Camden Yards, but the Blue Jays didn’t want to wait to see if Maryland officials would say no with season starting Friday. “Baltimore never got to a situation to where we were denied,” Blue Jays President Mark Shapiro said Friday. ”At some point continuing to explore and look at an option like Baltimore was not going to be a risk we could take. That risk of being turned down certainly existed. And so we obviously had to make a decision knowing we had a very good alternative, albeit not a major league one.
