The Toronto Blue Jays have signed an agreement with the University of Guelph to provide research on bringing natural grass to Rogers Centre in time for the 2018 season.

President Paul Beeston made the announcement on Thursday night.

"It's a formal agreement, and it's pretty exciting from our point of view because we've had many discussions, but now it's to the point where we're actually going forward," Beeston, 69, said. "We're looking forward to the report, which should take probably a year, and then we'll go from there."

The University of Guelph, about 60 miles west of Toronto, is home to the Ontario Agricultural College.