Yes, Toronto has always been a great city but most American ball players come from the west coast or southern states, they know little about Canada and to them it obviously sounds worse than it is. I remember Adam Lind once talking how it's just a pain in the ass playing in and out of a different country every few days. Custom's alone is a pain, Canadian/American money, taxes, etc. Want to fly in some family, make sure they have passports.
Also regarding free agents from early 90s, we were already a good team for the past 10 years and turf wasn't a deterrent, it had been in a dozen stadiums by that point but that trend ended quickly and no one wanted to play on the surface. I think once we have natural grass it will attract more to be honest.