Canada Visa Issues -- 2005 Version

[Mass Haas]

RHP's Craig Langille and Alexandre Periard should be in Maryvale now; the Brewers Dick Groch quoted here:

 

Link while active, text follows:

 

slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Baseba...85-cp.html

 

Canadians hurt by U.S. visa rules

By SHI DAVIDI

 

(CP) - David Amonite has been chatting up immigration lawyers for months, trying to find a way to get his son a visa to play minor-league baseball in the United States this summer.

 

Karl Amonite, a native of Woodslee, Ont., has opened some eyes with some big numbers for the Auburn Tigers this season and is eligible for Major League Baseball's June 7-8 amateur draft.

 

Only, like every Canadian on scouts' lists, there's a big question mark by his name.

 

The 2005 supply of 66,000 H2B visas for seasonal workers, the kind Canadians need to play in the minor leagues down south, was exhausted Jan. 2 and once they're gone, they're gone.

 

That means any Canuck chosen can't start playing in the United States until 2006 and loses a summer of development, a fact of life which hurt players from north of the border in last year's draft.

 

"It's extremely frustrating," says David Amonite. "You don't want to see your son in a position where he can't pursue his career. What raises the level of frustration is that we've had at least eight teams express genuine interest."

 

But a recent decision by U.S. Congress, under pressure from industries like tourism and the fisheries which depend on seasonal workers, may have opened up a new window of opportunity for Canadian ball players.

 

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will begin accepting applications for H2B visas on Wednesday. Any worker with a 2005 visa who has previously received a work permit within the last three years won't be counted against the cap of 66,000 and CIS spokesman Chris Bentley said Tuesday that could free up as 35,000 H2B visas.

 

As part of the Save our Summer program, Bentley says immigration officials will try to process applications in 30 days instead of the usual 60. Businesses desperate for workers can pay $1,000 to have their cases judged in 15 days.

 

What exactly this means for Canadians in the draft is still unclear, but in theory, there should still be some visas out there once the picks are made.

 

"We're still trying to figure all that out," said Dick Groch, the special assistant to Milwaukee Brewers general manager Doug Melvin who is in charge of Canadian scouting.

 

Strict enforcement of the visa quota began last year, after immigration officials discovered the cap had been blown by 13,000 workers, and it showed in the 2004 draft. The 38 Canadians taken last June was lowest total since 2000, when 35 were chosen.

 

Michael Nickeas of Vancouver was the first Canadian taken, in the fifth round, 141st overall, by the Texas Rangers, the lowest the first Canuck has gone since 1998.

 

"I thought a few guys would go higher last year," says Groch, whose team took seven Canadians in 2004. "Teams were worried about using a higher-level choice on a player with a questionable return. But once the first player was taken the floodgates opened."

 

Canadians would have been in much worse shape this year, with a crop of players scouts describe as subpar. With worries about getting players into their systems, teams could potentially let Canadians slip for several rounds, reducing the players' signing bonus and opportunity in the minors.

 

"The market is a little lighter than it was last year, which wasn't tremendous," says Groch. "But you can't dissect it without thinking about the visa scenario."

 

Illinois University catcher Chris Robinson of Dorchester, Ont., Winthrop University right-hander Chris Leroux of Mississauga, Ont., and first baseman Nick Weglarz of Stevensville, Ont., who plays for Team Ontario, are some of the most talked about Canadians.

 

"It almost doesn't matter how well prepared you are, you simply weren't going to get a visa," says agent Blake Corosky, of Toronto-based agency True Gravity. "That's unfortunate because a lot of Canadians eligible for the draft, and I'm hearing it from teams, are slipping in their eyes just simply because of the visa issue."

 

Walt Burrows, head of the Major League Baseball Scouting Bureau Canada, has heard that talk too.

 

"Some teams view it as a problem and others are just forging ahead," says Burrows. "It's an initial problem, it's a matter of getting on the bus, so to speak. Once you're into the system, then the visas can be rolled over year to year."

 

If the visas run out before or shortly after the draft, Canadians will be left in the same situation they were in last year. That means teams will likely sign them to 2006 contracts, send them to the fall instructional leagues where they play for free while getting a taste of what's in store for them in the minors and then try to peck their way up next spring.

 

Other possibilities include playing in Latin America or just in home games for Canadian Northern League teams.

 

"A lot of teams have been sending kids (to Latin American), that hasn't turned out terribly well because you also have a language barrier," says Corosky. "In most cases now, teams are just shying away from drafting Canadians high."

 

That can leave players like Karl Amonite with a lot to think about as the draft approaches. If he's worried about his future, it's not showing on the field, where the six-foot-five, 230-pound first baseman is batting .361 with 10 homers and 57 RBIs in 56 games for Auburn.

 

"The thing is it's out of my hands," says Amonite. "If you worry about that on the field baseball is a tough game that will eat you up pretty quick. Hopefully I'll get a chance to play professional baseball."

 

That's something Burrows says Canadians shouldn't worry about.

 

"The positive side of things," he says, "and it helps the negative, is that the kids who are in the system now are doing so well, it's hard to ignore the talent that's in Canada."

[madbad2000]

How much would it cost to have a camp in Canada? Sorta like the Latin camps. You could start a camp up there and then maybe send some of the Latin youngsters signed up there as well as the Canadian draftees and have enough people to make it worthwhile almost. Like a second spring training home. Can you even do that? Just some food for thought.