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Manfred: MLB will do everything possible for Blue Jays to play 2021 in Toronto

Tom Szczerbowski / Getty Images Sport / Getty

There's no indication where the Toronto Blue Jays will play in 2021, but MLB commissioner Rob Manfred plans to do everything he can to ensure they return to their home city next season.

"The one thing I can say is that we will do everything humanly possible to convince the government that the Blue Jays should play in Toronto next year," he told Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.

The Blue Jays played most of their home games at Sahlen Field in Buffalo during the 2020 campaign after the Canadian government denied them permission to play at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. Plans to host home games in Pittsburgh and Baltimore were similarly rejected earlier this year.

Sahlen Field usually houses Toronto's Triple-A affiliate, and there were some initial concerns about whether it could properly host major-league games.

"No rap on minor-league facilities in general or Buffalo in particular, our major-league facilities are really, really nice, and players are used to a certain level of facility to go to work in," the commissioner said before adding how impressed he was with the Blue Jays' transformation of the stadium.

"What they accomplished ... is unbelievable, literally unbelievable.

Manfred added: "Not only was it playable, and serviceable, but the work they did actually created that feeling of this is the Blue Jays' home, which I think is really important to the psyche of the team and the ability of the team to perform, and an unbelievable accomplishment given the tight timeframe."

The Blue Jays clinched their first postseason berth since 2016 on Thursday, celebrating the accomplishment on Sahlen Field's mound with a riveting speech from veteran catcher Caleb Joseph.

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