The ongoing dispute between Toronto Blue Jays player Ryan “Rowdy” Tellez, and his Toronto landlord has been resolved.
CBC News has learned with the Jays back in Toronto and practicing at the Rogers Centre, Tellez paid his landlord $16,400 to cover his rent payments through the end of September, when the lease on a two-bedroom downtown Toronto condo is set to expire.
“I’m very pleased Mr. Tellez has paid his lease agreement in full through till the end of September,” landlord Linda Pinizzotto told CBC News.
“We were able to finalize his payment through his legal representative in a friendly manner.”
Tellez returned to Toronto on Sunday but has yet to step foot in the condo or pick up the keys, despite signing a lease back in January. During the time he was refusing to pay, Tellez argued through his Florida-based lawyer that because COVID-19 had suspended the baseball season and he was stuck living in the U.S., he shouldn’t have to pay rent in Toronto.
WATCH | Blue Jays players in Toronto preparing for upcoming shortened MLB season:
Major League Baseball training camps are now open. Toronto Blue Jays players have arrived in Toronto for team workouts that could be held as early as Monday at Rogers Centre. The shortened season is set to resume but without any fans in the stands. 8:14
Currently, the Jays players who had been training in Florida are isolating at the Toronto Marriott City Centre Hotel, which is attached to the Rogers Centre, where they’ve been cleared to practice.
At least one Jays player is still in Florida after testing positive for COVID-19, although the team won’t say who that is.
The Blue Jays were granted special permission to return to Canada by local, provincial and federal officials to conduct pre-season training.
The Blue Jays are still awaiting clearance to play home games in Toronto. A shortened Major League Baseball season is set to begin on July 23, and manager Charlie Montoyo says the team is hungry to play.
Coach still not paying his rent
Tellez wasn’t the only Blue Jay accused of not paying rent.
First base coach Mark Budzinski is still locked in a dispute with his landlord, Derrick Thomas.
Budzinski signed a six-month lease with Thomas earlier this year, but after making three payments, he stopped paying his $3,100 a month rent for a condo a block from Rogers Centre.
Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr., right, stands beside first base coach Mark Budzinski. (Fred Thornhill/Canadian Press )
Budzinski is currently taking Thomas to Ontario’s Landlord and Tenant Board, which handles rental disputes.
He wants the $9,300 he’s paid in rent so far returned, and the remainder of the six-month lease terminated.
Budzinski has argued he was unable to use the condo due to border restrictions and the fact the baseball season was on hold.
A date has yet to be set for the hearing. His legal representative has told CBC News, the coach will respect any decision the board makes.
It’s unclear if Budzinski is in Toronto or if he remains in Florida.
The Blue Jays did not respond to prior questions about the rent situations.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
BRUSSELS – Canadian shot putter Sarah Mitton rebounded from a disappointing performance at the Paris Olympics by capturing Diamond League gold on Friday.
Mitton, of Brooklyn, N.S., won the competition, the final Diamond League event of the season, with a heave of 20.25 metres on her third throw.
Chase Jackson of the U.S. placed second with a throw of 19.90, while German’s Yemisi Ogunleye, the Olympic gold medallist, claimed bronze with a toss of 19.72.
Mitton, the runner-up of last year’s world championship, failed to qualify for the top eight in Paris.
Edmonton runner Marco Arop, who won silver for Canada in the men’s 800 metres at the Paris Games, was scheduled to race in the 800 on Saturday.
Olympic bronze-medallist Alysha Newman, of London, Ont., also competes Saturday in the women’s pole vault.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
