Hirsig Visa Not Through

I made it out to the Wizards afternoon practice yesterday to see how the team looked with the season a little over 2 weeks away. Overall, the team looked sharp in their small sided drill they were doing when I showed up yesterday. All but 3 of the players are currently training. Two of those missing are long term injuries to Chance Myers and Eric Kronberg. The other one is Santiago Hirsig, who after training with the team down in Mexico has to wait for his visa from the US government before he can begin working with the team in the US. It would appear that Hirsig will not be in the starting 11 when the season starts on the 21st because of these issues along with his lack of game fitness. Still getting him in will be a big boost for the team, as he'll provide some good veteran leadership for the team.

Also from being at practice today, it looks like the Wizards two remaining trailists, Ferenc Béres and Chris Brown have been released. Béres had not gotten in a game since early in the trip to Mexico, and Brown had only one appearance in preseason with the team. For Béres, it was probably the numbers game in the midfield that saw him not gain a spot. For Brown, he appears to have lost the battle with Boris Pardo to back up Kevin Hartman until Kronberg is healthy.