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TORONTO — The past few weeks have provided a rollercoaster of emotions for Toronto Blue Jays decision-makers as they searched far and wide for a viable home-field option.

Other than their preferred choice being ruled out Saturday, not much has changed.

A few more days of uncertainty is currently the only certainty.

“I was more optimistic at times and I had some nights I went to sleep thinking, ‘Man, I’m not sure what we’re going to have to pivot to,’” Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro said shortly after the federal government denied their request to play home games in Toronto.

At the beginning of June, the Jays were ready to call TD Ballpark in Dunedin home, going as far as upgrading the lighting and retrofitting the clubhouse to comply with Major League Baseball’s health and safety protocols and social distancing measures.

Then, as we’ve all experienced in every walk of life, COVID-19 intervened.

The number of positive cases in Florida rose to staggering levels throughout the month, eventually leading to the club’s entire complex being shut down as a precaution after a handful of positive tests.

Eyeing Rogers Centre as the ideal option all along despite the obvious logistical challenges, the Blue Jays pivoted, putting the full-court press on government officials and health authorities to make it happen.

For a time, it looked like it would work, and federal authorities were impressed by the plan the Blue Jays presented, but not so much by MLB’s no-bubble system that will see teams start flying from city to city and state to state this week.

That dream officially died Saturday afternoon when the federal government decided the concerns surrounding all the back-and-forth cross-border travel the Jays and incoming visiting teams would be facing were too much of a risk to public health.

Digging deeper, it’s about where some of these teams would be coming from, and where the Jays would be going.

The Jays wanted out of Dunedin, and still do, for a reason.

The fact the Tampa Bay Rays and Miami Marlins are two of the nine teams on the Jays’ schedule this summer — for a total of 14 games — was factored into the federal decision, one that gives Shapiro & Co. some clarity, but also leaves them in a lurch 10 days out from the home opener against the Washington Nationals on July 29.

Now, Buffalo’s Sahlen Field is where the energy and resources are being spent, but even that isn’t certain as of today, especially with players voicing their preference to be in a major-league stadium.

“Dunedin is the only one that is 100 per cent seamless right now and ready to go,” Shapiro noted when going through the alternatives now that Rogers Centre is off the table. “That from a player health standpoint has some challenges. Buffalo is certainly one that we spent a lot and an increasing amount of time in the past few weeks, but that is not done and there are some infrastructure and player facility challenges that we would have to address to get that up to major league standards.”

There are two main issues with their Triple-A affiliate’s ballpark.

The first is the lighting has to be upgraded to comply with MLB requirements.

The second is the amenities are both far from big-league ready and the confines are tight.

Not exactly ideal when you’re trying to house 30 big leaguers, a coaching staff, and all the support staff needed on a daily basis.

“There’s a lot that we have to do and some of it might get done after we start playing, but I’m confident that Buffalo is a viable alternative and that with the amount of resources that we would marshal if we focused solely on Buffalo that we could make it what it needs to be for us in time to play games,” Shapiro said.

“It’s a smaller footprint and it is obviously not a major league facility, and the teams we are competing against are playing in major league facilities as far as cages, weight rooms, training rooms, the sizes of those. We would look to improve those things and we’ve spent time over the past 10 days working on that, we continue to work on that, but we’re weighing against other alternatives as well.”

The alternatives at this point are murky.

One idea that seemed to have died on the operating table weeks ago was sharing Tropicana Field up the road in St. Petersburg, Fla., with the Rays, but the Jays decided the money they’d have to invest in building a clubhouse wasn’t worth it.

Plus … Florida. 

It’s not a place any player wants to be, and many Jays have communicated that over the past two weeks.

Other MLB ballparks in the northeast United States are being talked about, as are some of the newer minor league facilities around the area.

When looking at alternatives, the virus is the first consideration.

The Jays want to be in a safe place.

“Like everything else we’re dealing with, it’s a changing landscape on a day-to-day basis, but putting them in a position to remain healthy, one, and to perform at the top of their ability, two, are absolutely our driving concerns,” Shapiro said. “That’s all we’re thinking about right now.”

Past that, the question becomes, what stadium will give them the most big-league resources — cages, mounds, video rooms, clubhouse comfort — to allow them to win baseball games?

There are 60 of them looming, and despite all of the challenges each team is facing, the nature of a shortened season gives everyone improved odds of making a surprise run.

“I don’t feel any of those are clear enough yet or we’ve done enough to provide you anymore right now,” Shapiro said of the other options the team is looking at. “I’m 100 per cent confident that we’ll have clarity on those in the next couple of days.”

When the players’ union and MLB agreed to move forward with the season, it was written into the agreement that commissioner Rob Manfred would have the power to relocate teams if COVID-19 became a concern in a team’s city.

The league is heavily involved in the process, and has been the entire way.

“The commissioner has been extremely helpful in providing guidance and helping us understand what alternatives exist,” Shapiro said.

As far as a timeline goes, there’s no drop dead date for being moved into their new home — other than the obvious day of the “home” opener — but the Jays won’t be dragging their feet.

They simply can’t.

“Clearly, a sense of urgency,” Shapiro said. “And clearly a confidence level that we’re going to be in a good spot by the time we start playing home games.”

 

THE PLAYERS’ VIEW

As Shapiro and the front office scramble to find a home, the players have been in their Rogers Centre/Marriott City Centre Hotel bubble and shuffling to and from the field for 14 straight days now, working to get ready for Friday’s opener in Tampa.

Blue Jays reliever Anthony Bass on Sunday said that he told Ross Atkins playing in another major-league stadium would be the best option for the players, and the GM agreed.

“They are listening to everything that we’re saying,” Bass said. “I got a chance to talk to Ross (on Saturday) after I was done pitching, and I just said, ‘Look, we want to play in a major league ballpark, we feel like that’s the best opportunity for us,’ and he agreed. He said, ‘I listen to you guys loud and clear and that’s what we’re going to do for you because that’s what the team wants.’”

Whether that’s a legitimate option is another story, one that will play out over the next few days.

Sharing a stadium and becoming essentially basement tenants for two months would be far from ideal, but ideal isn’t really an option at this point.

“That’s definitely going to be a disadvantage, but we know as a team we’re willing to make some sacrifices in order to play in a big league ballpark to have that atmosphere and have that energy from just being in a bigger stadium versus a ballpark that might not be ready, might not have the major league lighting, their clubhouses might be very small or they might not have enough batting cages for the hitters,” Bass said.

“We’re definitely at a disadvantage compared to other teams, I feel like, where they get to play at their home ballparks and their families are with them and they’re already acclimated to the cities. Now, we’re kind of scrambling to find a spot to call home.”

Manager Charlie Montoyo confirmed the obvious Sunday afternoon: Free-agent prize Hyun-Jin Ryu will get the ball opening day.

The 33-year-old veteran believes he and his teammates will be able to adapt to whatever home situation they end up in, but it’s clear playing in a minor league ballpark isn’t ideal.

“Honestly, I wouldn’t say it’s the same type of environment if we do end up playing in a minor league stadium, but my understanding is that we don’t know that yet, nothing is certain,” Ryu said. “Depending on how it goes, we’ll just have to adapt.”

The Jays will use this as a rallying cry.

Whether that manufactured vibe will be enough to overcome the obvious logistical and comfort challenges they’ll face no matter where they play remains to be seen.

“As players, I think we’re all just trying to rally together to keep ourselves in shape to be ready for the regular season,” Ryu said.

“Obviously, you play half of the season at home so there’s definitely some sort of comfort level you develop over time. But honestly right now, the situation itself we just have to deal with it as players and one of our jobs is to adapt to new types of situations. We just have to get used to a new environment and wherever we end up being, we have to get used to that place.”