Taipei, Nov. 13 (CNA) The San Francisco Giants and the Arizona Diamondbacks will not play a pair of games in Taiwan to open the 2011 Major League Baseball (MLB) regular season as planned, the MLB said in its official Web site.
"We were informed that a deal couldn't be pulled together at this time, " the MBL.com quoted Diamondbacks spokesperson Shaun Rachau as saying.
The original deal would have two teams play two exhibition games plus two regular season games in Taiwan in late March. The regular season games will be counted as the Diamondbacks' home games.
The Bros Sports, organizers of the games on the Taiwan side, was not informed of the decision and is contacting the MLB for further information, according to Hu Lung-chih, the sports company's general manager.
The Diamondbacks had agreed to give up a pair of home dates for the trip and had said that player compensation was not a factor.
However, the proposal had never been approved by Giants players, who will received a reported US$10,000 payment apiece for the Taiwan trip, according to a San Francisco Chronicle report published Nov. 6.
The Giants are scheduled to open the regular season against the Dodgers in Los Angeles and the Diamondbacks will open against the Rockies in Coors Field April 1, according to MLB.com. (By Chris Wang) enditem