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Blue Jays unveil Grapefruit League slate

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The Jays are slated to take the field for 14 tilts at Dunedin Stadium this spring. (AP)

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• Blue Jays tentative Spring Training schedule
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By Jordan Bastian / MLB.com

11/16/09 12:34 PM EST

TORONTO -- The chill of winter is starting to set in north of the border, giving Blue Jays fans plenty of reason to begin imagining sun-soaked baseball diamonds and the arrival of a new baseball season. Let the countdown begin.

On Monday, the Blue Jays revealed their Spring Training schedule for 2010, laying out the Grapefruit League slate that will lead up to Opening Day in April. Toronto will host 14 home games at Dunedin Stadium in Dunedin, Fla., and will wrap up the preseason with a pair of exhibition games against the Astros in Houston.

The Blue Jays open the 2010 regular season against the Rangers on April 5 in Texas. That being the case, Toronto will head to Houston for tune-up games on April 2 and April 3 at Minute Maid Park. The contests against the Astros will conclude a spring schedule that features games against each of this year's World Series participants.

Toronto will host the National League champion-Phillies on March 5 at Dunedin Stadium in the first of three spring games against Philadelphia. The Blue Jays also square off against the rival Yankees -- winners of the 2009 World Series -- three times. Toronto first plays New York on March 6 at Tampa and the Jays host the Yankees on April 1 in Dunedin.

The Blue Jays' pitchers and catchers will hold their first workout of the spring on Feb. 22, with position players reporting to the Bobby Mattick Training Center in Dunedin three days later. After the workout portion of Spring Training, Toronto opens its Grapefruit League schedule against the Tigers on March 3 at home.

With the exception of an 8:05 p.m. ET start against the Astros on April 2, each of the Blue Jays' spring contests are afternoon games. That includes games against all of Toronto's American League East foes -- New York, Boston, Tampa Bay and Baltimore. The Jays' first games against the Red Sox, Rays and Orioles, respectively, will be on March 21, March 11 and March 17.

Tickets for the Blue Jays' 2010 Grapefruit League games are on sale now in the form of three-game flex packs. Single-game tickets will first be available for a 36-hour window, beginning at 10 a.m. ET on Dec. 3. To place orders, please visit bluejays.com or dunedinbluejays.com.

Jordan Bastian is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.