Rob Gillies of the Associated Press reports that Major League Baseball has submitted a plan to the Canadian government in order for teams to play in Toronto during the 2020 season amid the coronavirus pandemic. MLB must get approval from the government as well as health authorities on Ontario.
Details for the 2020 season were released yesterday. The regular season will start on July 23 or 24 and will feature 60 games. Of those 60 games, 40 will be played against divisional opponents and 20 will be regional interleague (for the Blue Jays, this would mean NL East teams). Thus, nine teams would need to travel from the United States to Canada for road games, as would the Blue Jays returning home from road trips.
Canada is closed to nonessential travel until at least July 21 and those who enter Canada for nonessential reasons are required to quarantine for two weeks.
In the event that baseball can’t be played in Canada, the Blue Jays could potentially play at their advanced Single-A/spring training facility in Dunedin (FL). However, all MLB spring training facilities were recently shut down due to a coronavirus outbreak in Phillies and Blue Jays camps. The Jays may also try to use the facilities of their minor league affiliates in Buffalo (NY) and Manchester (NH), home to their Triple-A and Double-A teams, respectively.