The Toronto Blue Jays have to operate under Canadian regulations regarding COVID-19 and vaccines.
Canadian laws prohibits unvaccinated players on visiting MLB clubs from playing at Rogers Centre in Toronto.
These unvaccinated players will be placed on a restricted list when they visit Toronto, and won’t be able to take the field.
These players are not paid or credited for service time, per Reuters.
There was some chatter last week that the deal between the Boston Red Sox and Trevor Story would fall apart because he didn’t want to get the vaccine.
Jeff Passan of ESPN talked about the situation on Twitter.
To be clear: This is not just a Red Sox thing. Teams across baseball, sources say, are concerned with the ramifications of unvaccinated players not being allowed to play in Toronto. If the rules don't change, they could offer a significant competitive advantage for the Blue Jays.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 24, 2022
“Earlier this week there were concerns the deal between Trevor Story and the Boston Red Sox would fall apart. Why? He was hesitant to get the COVID-19 vaccine. He eventually agreed to, and after a long winter, Story is where he wants to be.”
The Blue Jays May Have An Advantage With The Current Situation
If he hadn’t gotten the vaccine, Story wouldn’t be able to play in Toronto, and there wouldn’t be any way around it.
“To be clear: This is not just a Red Sox thing. Teams across baseball, sources say, are concerned with the ramifications of unvaccinated players not being allowed to play in Toronto. If the rules don’t change, they could offer a significant competitive advantage for the Blue Jays,” Passan said.
People in the comments and replies said that the Blue Jays were the most affected team by the regulations because they would also need to comply to the same rules.
But players on the Blue Jays know that Canadian government is strict with COVID-19 regulations, and most, if not all, Blue Jays players are likely vaccinated.
To be clear, the blue jays have to comply with the exact same rules. So it’s only an advantage because their roster is vaccinated, not because they’re the home team.
— bk (@_bkuh_) March 24, 2022
As things currently stand, the Blue Jays might just have a small competitive advantage because visiting teams often don’t have their whole roster vaccinated.
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