Blue Jays rosters frozen and a 29-man roster forthcoming

Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association have been in talks and reportedly have come to an agreement on the groundwork for when the Toronto Blue Jays season resumes.

The Blue Jays and teams around the league will officially have their rosters frozen prohibiting any further roster transactions moving forward. This was the underlying factor in the abundance of roster tinkering and players optioned to the minors the past couple of days.

Toronto optioned pitchers Thomas Pannone and Jacob Waguespack along with minor-league infielder Santiago Espinal to their Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo before the freeze took effect.

According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, there are several dates that rosters could re-open depending on the anticipated timeline for the season to resume.

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It appears teams will also be permitted to carry 29 players for the first month of the season while players get back into the swing of things following the layoff. This could be beneficial for the Blue Jays to take a longer look at Anthony Alford and Derek Fisher in regular-season action before making a final decision on their future with the organization.

Both players are out of options and Alford did very little to prove his case in Grapefruit League action earlier this spring. Alford will need to prove he can make consistent contact in short order if he plans to remain at the major league level.

Scheduling for the regular season is still being discussed and will ultimately be determined by the Coronavirus pandemic. The commissioner has gone on record to say that baseball will not resume until travel bans have been lifted and it is safe for fans and players to return.

It appears that the regular season will be extended into October, however, there is little chance that we see a 162 game schedule played.

There will need to be some rule tinkering and exemptions made this season as a result of the lost games.