Although a visa has been approved, Minnesota Twins righthander Sidney Ponson might be unable to pitch in a spring training game for nearly two weeks. He is scheduled to obtain his visa is on March 9th in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, the day of the Twins' 10th spring training game.
Apparently, an immigration lawyer advised Ponson to get the wrong type of visa. Most players obtain P-1 visas - earmarked for international athletes - in order to play here in the big leagues. He was advised to obtain an O visa, one that is "specifically for the admission of persons with extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business and athletics" which doesn't necessarily describe Ponson.
Ron Gardenhire is not happy.
[Getting the visa] hasn't been done. Who's dropping the ball? I know we're not dropping the ball, so somebody on his side, whether it's himself or his agent, needs to get this taken care of.In other Twins news, if you're vying for a spot on the 40-man roster, now is not the time to have neck problems.
Right-hander Matt Garza felt a slight pain in his upper neck along with headaches while throwing Saturday batting practice and will undergo a CAT scan. Garza felt a slight pain in his upper neck while throwing batting practice on Saturday. If he actually misses any time this spring due to the injury, he will likely lose out on a spot in the rotation and start the season in the minors.
Infielder Jeff Cirillo also reported stiffness in his neck, unable to do much of anything on Monday, and is considered day to day. Also, outfielder Lew Ford, who had surgery on his left knee in January, was feeling some pain in his right knee after throwing in the outfield, possibly due to overcompensating with his right. He went in for an MRI with results due this week.
[Star Tribune]
5 comments:
This Visa thing may or may not be out of Ponson's hands, but did the Twins really expect to be without issues with this guy? He has a history of problems you think they would've taken into consideration.
I don't think that's really fair, anonymous. Obviously, Gardy and co. aren't happy, but what can they do? They wanted to give him a chance and were in desperate need of another starter.
Good luck with Sir Sidney, you all may need it :(
Did you see my regular season simulation on my blog -- the Twinkies win the Central...
If Sid can keep his anger/drinking under control and get this whole Visa mess sorted out ASAP, I think he'll be far and away a better choice in the rotation than say, Matt Garza. For now anyway... he just has so much more experience. When his life isn't all in disarray, he's actually a good pitcher.
awesome. i can't wait to see all these guys fit into a tiny clown car and stumble out on the field opening day.
(by the way, they've confiscated all copies of guitar hero right? the last thing we need is a zumaya incident on our hands.)
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