As Jays are wowed by Sahlen Field improvements, return to Toronto remains murky

In a video call with reporters prior to Tuesday's opener in Buffalo against the Miami Marlins, Toronto president/CEO Mark Shapiro reiterated the organization's stance that getting to Toronto remains a top priority. But Shapiro was realistic as well.

"What I've come to recognize is, until the border is open, any proposal would have to deal with that and create a set of circumstances that allow cross-border travel for players, families and visiting teams," Shapiro said. "And that's not an easy thing to do. It's not impossible, but it's not an easy thing to do. I guess what I would suggest to you is that until the border is open, there are significant challenges with us returning to Toronto to play."

Shapiro said talks have been more substantive and frequent in recent weeks with Canadian government officials, particularly at the federal level. But the border situation remains the toughest issue to deal with. Until then, the Blue Jays will be staying put. It seems hard to imagine them getting back to Toronto before August at the earliest, as Shapiro estimated it would be about a four-week turnaround to break down Sahlen Field and get the team and its effects set up at its natural home base.

The Blue Jays are committed here through July 4 and it's expected they'll be making a decision soon on the homestand that opens July 16 and features visits by the Texas Rangers and Boston Red Sox. If they stayed all season, they could play 59 games in Buffalo through Oct. 3.

Shapiro and the club were thrilled with what its staff was able to do in its massive renovation of the ballpark, which will create a solid home for this year and a long-lasting one for the Buffalo Bisons whenever the Triple-A team is able to return.

"It's a little overwhelming to walk in," Shapiro said. "Our operations staff continues to over-exceed expectations and lead up to a pretty dramatic impact whenever we see the facility and come into a new facility in this transitional time."

"I didn't think they could do even a better job than they did last year but this place looks 1,000 times even better – and last year was good," said manager Charlie Montoyo. "This year. It's awesome. And what makes me happy is that all the players are happy with it."

The team's videos posted on social media showed players wowed by their new service-level clubhouse when they arrived from their weekend series in Cleveland.

"Everything around with the clubhouse, the (batting) cages, the weight room, it's incredible," said Toronto catcher and former Bisons MVP Danny Jansen. "They did an outstanding job. Even last year, it was refreshing for us and they didn't have that much time and still did a great job. They had more time this year and it's tremendous. It's awesome.

"I think it's going to be one of the better, if not the best, Triple-A facility. It's gonna be great when it's all said and done and we're back in Toronto and this is back to Triple-A."

The Blue Jays' situation is obviously unique but there's been virtually no complaints about it the last two seasons. It's simply out of their hands.

"We are one of 30 (teams) but we just put our heads down and we can't control anything else," Jansen said. "Take what we're given. We're given a pretty sweet deal this year in Buffalo with all the improvements that they made for us and we're going to carry on with that and take it one day at a time."

Manoah mania on tap

Rookie Alek Manoah gets his second major-league start when the Jays and Marlins meet at 7:07 p.m. Wednesday here. Manoah fired six shutout innings in his major-league debut last week in Yankee Stadium after three sensational outings with the Bisons and his mother, Susana, became a social media sensation as her cheering led a large group of family members on hand. Manoah is from suburban Miami.

"It was awesome. A lot of energy from him and his family brings a lot of energy," Jansen said here Tuesday. "It was an awesome first start for him. Being in the Bronx and going six innings like he did and the composure he had on the mound was incredible."

Springer gets pep in his step

The most significant pregame development on the field Tuesday was Blue Jays outfielder George Springer taking fly balls and running the bases. Owner of a six-year, $150 million free agent contract, the former Houston Astros star has played in only four games this season due to oblique and quad issues that have frustrated both Springer and the team.

"From everything I hear, he looked good," Montoyo said. "So that's great. But you'd have to do the same thing. probably tomorrow again, and we'll go from there. But today, that's the first time he's done it."

It's likely Springer will need some injury rehab work with the Bisons before he could be put in the Toronto lineup.