Liriano is going to be late to camp this year

Notes: Liriano to be late to camp

Today is February 17th, 2008, the day that Twins pitchers and catchers are supposed to officially report to training camp. But the team has already been told that Left-Handed pitcher Francisco Liriano is probably going to miss a few days of camp, due to some trouble he had obtaining his work visa from the U.S. Consulate in the Dominican Republic.

Liriano had planned to fly to Fort Myers on Friday but his visa application was flagged Wednesday due to a previous drunk driving arrest in March '06 in Cape Coral, Florida.

As part of a memorandum passed by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice last summer, visa applicants must be referred to panel physicians if they "have a single drunk driving arrest or conviction within the last three calendar years." The applicants must go to a counseling session and also have to pass a sobriety test.

According to the Twins general manager Bill Smith, Liriano had done everything according to schedule because the new order from the State Department was unknown to everyone in the organization.

It was passed last June and apparently no one knew about it. Even the MLB didn't know about this new law.

Liriano had an appointment scheduled for Friday to hopefully take car of the issue. The Twins have been in contact with Liriano's agent, Greg Genske, to get updates on the situation.

The hope is that Liriano will be in camp sometime early next week, although his new process could delay the pitcher's arrival as long as 10 day.

While it's disappointing that Liriano will not be in camp on the very first day, the team said that it's not a significant setback.