With about two weeks remaining in spring training last year and third baseman Jung Ho Kang out with an injury, the Pittsburgh Pirates signed veteran David Freese to step in. The former South Alabama star's going to have to do it again this season, too.
The Pirates learned last week that Kang had been denied a work visa to enter the United States, and they don't know when he will. Kang has been in South Korea during spring training dealing with legal issues. He received an eight-month suspended sentence after being convicted for leaving the scene of an accident while under the influence, which led to the discovery that he'd had two previous DUI incidents.