Orioles: Simon update
Here's an update on Dominican pitcher Alfredo Simon from Orioles beat reporter Jeff Zrebiec:
The Orioles still don’t have a definitive date for the arrival of right-handed pitcher Alfredo Simon, who has been detained in Dominican Republic with Visa issues. However, minor league director David Stockstill said that he is hopeful that Simon, who was a longshot to make the Opening Day roster even before his Visa problems, will arrive in camp within a week.
“He needs an annual waiver and once he has his appointment with the U.S. embassy, it takes a certain amount of time for this waiver to get processed,” Stockstill said. “Right now, we’re 12 days into this process. We’re hopeful that it’s only going to take a short amount of time. It could take a few more days, it could take another week. But t his is an annual process that most major league clubs go through. There are a lot of players in this situation.”
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Comments
Only one thing so far has concerned me about spring training and that is Luke Scott and the left field situation. From his comments, it seems that Scott won't accept the situation if Pie is the everyday left fielder. It almost sounds like he is bucking for a trade. Pie certainly hasn't proven himself yet and Scott's power would be sorely missed in the line-up. I would love to have Scott's bat in the organization for at least a couple more years. I foresee this being a festering issue all season. What say you Pedro?
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Pete's reply: I don't think Luke is the festering type.
Posted by: O's Fan in Montana | February 25, 2009 10:57 AM
Why is so hard to get out of the Dominican? It sounds like it was easier to scale the Berlin Wall or cross the Rio Grande riding a beach ball. Maybe MacPhail needs to hire a crack force of specially trained ex-military men to smuggle them out. I wonder what the A-Team is up to these days? They're probably stuck in the DR and can't get out.
Posted by: Chris Joseph | February 25, 2009 11:10 AM
Pete - If Al Simon never shows up how much of a concern is it for the O's?
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Pete's reply: Really not much of a concern.
Posted by: Dan N | February 25, 2009 11:23 AM
Do you know if Stockstill tried to help Simon out when he was in DR? Do you think Simon sees it as a little slap in the face that Stockstill flew down for Pie but left Simon to wallow?
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Pete's reply: I'm sure he checked into it. That's why I had the blog item. They're just different situations.
Posted by: JZ | February 25, 2009 12:07 PM
"...Alfredo Simon, who has been detained in Dominican Republic with Visa issues."
As opposed to MasterCard issues?
Thank you, I'll be here all week, please remember to tip your bartender and waitresses.
Posted by: Bill on da Shore | February 25, 2009 12:31 PM
I apologize if this has been covered previously but why do these visa issues surface every year? It's not just the Orioles so I am sure that teams do everything that they can. Pete, what is the underlying cause of the visa problems and why can't teams prevent them from happening year after year?
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Pete's reply: In most cases, it's either the player and team are late with paperwork or the bureaucracy is just slow.
Posted by: Jay | February 25, 2009 1:21 PM
This annual visa-hunt thing is boring. I think the Orioles should put a requirement on all foreign players to show up for spring training ONE WEEK ahead of the rest of the club. If they're late, fine them on a per-day basis until they arrive.
If it takes a month to get a visa, then these guys need to start a month earlier making their applications. Jeez!
Posted by: Jerome Norris | February 25, 2009 11:22 PM
Any chance that Jim Johnson
could be put into the starting rotation--he had the best stuff last year and Chris Ray or George Sherrill could be set and closer.
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Pete reply: No, not now.
Posted by: roger | February 26, 2009 10:52 AM