With all the talk about the immigration laws in Arizona and how that could affect players coming there for the 2012 All-star Game, here is an interesting story affecting players crossing a different border.  It seems that Canada could deny entry to anyone who has been arrested or convicted of a crime here in the United States or any other country.  Certain crimes, like a DUI, are felonies in Canada- and Canada is getting tough on those with such convictions that enter their country.  The MLB Player’s Association sent out a memo to all agents letting them know that if they have a player that has been arrested for anything, they may need a special permit to head to Canada to play Toronto.  Here is a link to the Maury Brown piece that gives the details, including a copy of the memo that was sent out.

The world is getting to be a tougher place to play.  Can you imagine what will happen when baseball is truly international?

But seriously, there are many players that have been arrested for something.  Think Miguel Cabrera.  Think Josh Hamilton. That is just two.  What about the ones that did something before they were famous?

The union advises players not to go to the team with the issue, but to come to the union to get the proper advice and paperwork.  But how is the team not going to find out, when you are standing with everyone else and handing extra paperwork over?  Hopefully, all the crimes that will become uncovered here are ones we all already know about.