A Blue Jays’ playoff run could potentially leave the Argonauts homeless in October

The Toronto Blue Jays' current struggles might just benefit the Argonauts. If the Jays do manage to make the playoffs, something that once appeared to be a great chance but now has projected odds of 16.2 per cent or less, that could leave the Argonauts without a place to play some home games in October. As Curtis Rush of The Toronto Star writes, the team has four October home games scheduled, but the Jays always have first priority at the Rogers Centre, which could necessitate moving the dates of Argos' games or perhaps even forcing them to find a new venue:

Moving games to another night of the week is a possibility, but that isn't easy in the CFL; that would affect TSN's schedule and the visitors' travel plans, plus the amount of rest each team had coming in. It also reportedly takes over 24 hours to convert the field from baseball to football or vice versa. The Argonauts have had to play home games on odd nights before thanks to their low scheduling priority at the Rogers Centre, such as this week's Tuesday night game. However, those games have been long scheduled in advance. Trying to move the date of a game on short notice would be exceptionally challenging.

The real problem is that there aren't great alternatives, though. The only other facility of any decent size is BMO Field, and while the Argos would love to get in there (and planned to eventually make the move there before being left out of those renovations), they can't right now. The current stadium isn't big enough to fit a Canadian football field. (That's to say nothing of what playing football there would do to the current natural-grass surface, needed for Toronto FC and international soccer games.)

Beyond that, there's the University of Toronto's Varsity Stadium, another site once looked at as a potential Argonauts' home, but it was only built to a capacity of 6,000 thanks to neighbourhood opposition to the Argos, and its design means it can't be expanded. The team has played preseason games there, and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats have been forced to play home games in a 6,500-seat venue this season (McMaster's Ron Joyce Stadium), so a game at Varsity might not be out of the question for the team or the CFL, but having so many less fans there would hurt the team both on and off the field. That's also presuming that the Argonauts can work out a deal with the U of T and that their planned game wouldn't conflict with previously-scheduled university events, neither of which is a sure thing.

In fact, the problems with Varsity are substantial enough that Rush's piece says it was "ruled out." It might have to be ruled back in if a better alternative isn't found, though. Other options include playing a "home" game on the road, or seeing if a deal can be worked out with the Tiger-Cats to play an Argonauts' "home" game at their new stadium. Neither of those seems appealing at all.

Of course, with the way things stand in baseball right now, this may all be moot. As of Thursday, the Blue Jays are 7.5 games back of the Orioles in the AL East, and they're behind the Los Angeles Angels, Seattle and Detroit in the wild-card race. They're only three games back of the Mariners for that second wild-card slot, but they just got swept by them, and their overall playoff odds aren't looking good, especially considering their weak run differential of +14; that doesn't bode well for their future performance. Still, the Jays remain in postseason contention, and that must make the Argonauts nervous. It also illustrates how poor the Argos' current stadium situation is and how desperately a new home is needed. Unfortunately, unless federal money comes in or someone persuades MLSE to change their course on BMO Field renovations, one doesn't appear to be on the horizon.