Comments on: Jose Mijares arrives at Royals camp after passport delay

By: JB (the original)

JB (the original) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 19:15:31 +0000

Not blaming the consulate in any way whatsoever, I blame the fat, lazy, Jose Mijares for not giving a rip and being lackadaisical about being a responsible adult.

By: The Baseball Idiot

The Baseball Idiot — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 22:52:41 +0000

I used to work at embassies (not in the consulate), but I’m very familiar with visa issues.

Nothing strange about this. A consulate officer lets a guy get in on a visa he signs, and something bad happens, it’s his career.

They are very careful people. Getting a visa is a time-consuming process, and they work to the embassies time schedule, not the players.

When there are delays in visas, it’s usually because the player didn’t turn his paperwork in on time. Odd how we never hear that side of the story.

Foreign Service Officers are not sports fans. Well, tennis, but only because it looks high-brow.

By: JB (the original)

JB (the original) — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 19:25:16 +0000

He used passport issues as an excuse last year (2011) and also another year before that (09 or 10).

By: rooney24

rooney24 — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 17:58:39 +0000

Good luck with that, KC. While Mijares was terrible last year, in 2010 he was overweight, missed some time, and did not pitch well any time he was used in anything close to a pressure situation. I know the numbers don’t look bad overall, he did not appear (from the outside) to be very motivated. And, if a team looking for relievers as badly as the Twins won’t resign him reasonably cheap, it makes me think he had burned his bridges.

On a different note, but related to the story, why are there a handful of players every season with passport issues. If you know you have to leave your country by a certain date, don’t you apply for your passport a month ahead of that, instead of leaving it to the last minute? While it may be a fluke, it doesn’t help Mijares’ hopes to look more dedicated.