LOS ANGELES — The Giants would open the 2011 season with a two-game series in Taiwan against the Arizona Diamondbacks if players from both teams approve a proposal from Major League Baseball, sources told the Mercury News on Wednesday.
Players union executive Gene Orza met with the Giants almost two weeks ago in Washington to outline the travel schedule, which would include two exhibitions against the Chinese Taipei national team before taking on the Diamondbacks in late March.
The Giants would return to Scottsdale, Ariz., for an additional week of spring training before resuming the regular season.
Players would receive additional compensation for competing overseas, because of the travel inconvenience and the earlier spring training reporting time. They are expected to vote on the proposal next month.
If approved, it would be the Giants' first regular-season game outside of the United States, its territories or Canada. They played a series with the Montreal Expos in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 2004.
Taiwan would be a new venue for Major League Baseball, which has staged three season-opening series in Tokyo and one in Monterrey, Mexico. The A's opened the 2008 season in Japan against the Boston Red Sox.
Taiwanese major leaguers include Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Hong-Chih Kuo and Washington Nationals right-hander Chien-Ming Wang.