Report: All Rangers Players Vaccinated Before Blue Jays Series in Toronto

Everyone in the Rangers' traveling party has been cleared to enter Canada, manager Chris Woodward said.

© Gerry Angus-USA TODAY Sports

The entirety of the Rangers’ roster is vaccinated and able to play in Toronto, Texas manager Chris Woodward said Wednesday, according to the Associated Press.

All members of the Rangers’ traveling party reportedly submitted their proof of vaccination—which is required by law for foreign travelers coming to Canada—without issue.

“We have to follow the rules of law, and we have to do exactly what everybody else does coming into Canada,” Woodward told Texas media before his club’s three-game series versus the Blue Jays.

Since COVID-19 restrictions have eased in Ontario, Friday’s season opener will be the first full capacity game at Rogers Centre since the 2019 season. José Berríos gets the start for Toronto, while Jon Gray takes the hill for Texas.

While the Rangers are fully vaccinated, it’s unclear how other teams will respond to Canada’s travel restrictions. The Yankees, for example, have several players who are reportedly unvaccinated (New York manager Aaron Boone expressed his concern earlier this spring regarding travel to Canada.)

The vaccination/travel restriction has brought forth the suggestion that the Blue Jays—who played all of 2020 in Buffalo, then split the 2021 season between Florida, Buffalo, and Toronto—will receive a “competitive advantage” if opposing teams’ unvaccinated players can’t compete at Rogers Centre.

Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro wasn't buying that.

“I almost jumped through my phone screen when I see a reporter write that it's a competitive advantage of the Toronto Blue Jays because [teams] can't bring players across the border,” Shapiro said on March 26. "You got to be freaking kidding me.

“How about the competitive disadvantage of not being able to sign players that aren't vaccinated? How about playing half your season in Dunedin? In Buffalo at a competitive disadvantage? But nobody was writing that from the U.S.”

Before every series at Rogers Centre, it’ll be worth monitoring which opposing players make the trip north, as this storyline is likely to drag through at least the early parts of the season.

The Yankees don’t travel to Toronto until May 2, though the teams square off in a four-game series at Yankee Stadium beginning April 11.