Free agents concerned about where Blue Jays will play in 2021

The Toronto Blue Jays don't know if they will play home games at Rogers Centre, their spring training facility in Dunedin, Florida, or somewhere else during the 2021 MLB season. 

This is understandably making recruiting free agents just that much harder for Toronto.

"The No. 1 question is if we're going to play in Toronto," manager Charlie Montoyo said of discussions with free agents during the offseason, according to the Associated Press (h/t ESPN). "That's rightly so. Our answer is, 'Yeah, we're hoping so.'"

COVID-19 concerns caused the Blue Jays to close their Dunedin facility in June, and Canadian health officials denied a request to allow the club to travel back and forth between Canada and the United States for the 2020 campaign. This led to Toronto settling for Buffalo as a last-minute temporary home market. 

In November, the Toronto Raptors learned they had to relocate to Tampa for at least a portion of the 2020-21 NBA season that gets underway Dec. 22. With COVID-19 cases spiking throughout much of the U.S., the Blue Jays might need to host opponents at the newly renovated complex in Dunedin until they're welcomed back to Canada. 

"It might be one of the best in the United States right now," Montoyo said of what awaits the Blue Jays in Dunedin. "Having a complex like that, it makes it easier if we have to go that route."