Boone: Yankees roster ‘going to be OK’ in Toronto

DETROIT — In less than two weeks, the New York Yankees will head to Toronto to play against the Blue Jays in what will be their first visit to Canadian territory since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

According to present Canadian law, in order to be allowed into the country, unless issued an exemption, every member of a particular club’s traveling party must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 at least 14 days before entering Canada.

When spring training started, the Yankees still had a handful of players who had chosen not to be vaccinated, and their availability had been in question with the team scheduled to travel to Toronto on Sunday, May 1, ahead of a three-game series against the Blue Jays.

But manager Aaron Boone, who had stated previously that he did not believe it was going to be an issue for the team, implied that he had a fully vaccinated active roster when speaking ahead of the Yankees’ Tuesday night game against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park.

“I think we’re going to be in a good spot, that’s my understanding. Yeah,” Boone said in addressing whether he anticipated having everybody that he would want to have on the active roster for the series at Rogers Centre.

When asked if things had changed since he first addressed the media in the spring, when he mentioned that traveling to Canada was “a concern” because they still had “a few guys at least” that weren’t vaccinated, Boone declined to go into specifics.

“I don’t know the timelines of everything, to be honest,” he said. “I just … my understanding is we’re going to be OK.”

When addressing the issue of unvaccinated players in the spring, Boone said that he would be willing to talk with any unvaccinated person, if he thought it was necessary.

“If it’s something that becomes an issue, I would have conversations with guys,” Boone said in Tampa on March 14. “I have people in my life that made choices on both sides. I understand it’s one of those things that has kind of polarized us, unfortunately, as a nation, as a world. So I’ll certainly communicate with our guys, but in the end, it’s a personal decision.”

Source: www.espn.com