FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Dennys Reyes checked in at Twins camp Friday morning, five days after pitchers and catchers were scheduled to report, and immediately took responsibility for his late arrival.

"It's my fault," Reyes said of his delay due to passport issues. "I should have taken a look at my passport before."

The left-hander said he was all ready to depart for Spring Training in Fort Myers a week ago. He had his bags packed, loaded into his truck and had already said goodbye to some of his extended family back home in Mexico.

That's when he was going through his papers a final time and noticed one little thing on his passport -- the expiration date: March 6, 2008.

"When I got my visa last year, they gave me a two-year visa," Reyes said. "So I've been going in and out of the States just with my visa, so I never take a look at my passport. I looked at it by accident."

Reyes said he called the Twins right away and informed them of the situation knowing he would need his passport to travel to Toronto during the season. Rather than try to have him work on the issue while in the United States, the team told him to stay in Mexico and file for a new passport on Monday.

But Reyes' problems didn't stop there. He picked up his passport Tuesday and scheduled a flight for Wednesday to Miami. Mechanical problems grounded his plane in Mexico City and he was forced to spend an extra night there. He then flew into Miami on Thursday and drove the nearly three hours to Fort Myers, missing yet another day of workouts.

"I was like, 'No way this is happening,'" Reyes said of his second delay, the plane troubles. "Hopefully, now my bad luck is over."

Reyes certainly didn't have much luck last season. He saw his ERA rise from 0.89 in '06 to 3.99 in '07. It was a season in which he missed a total of nearly two months with left elbow problems. Rather than undergo surgery to correct the problem, the pitcher was advised to give his elbow rest.

He said he didn't throw for nearly two months, just doing rehab exercises for his arm, and went to Arizona to continue that rehab once the season ended. Reyes then remained in Arizona until Oct. 20, when he was able to throw a bullpen session at 100 percent without any setbacks.

Reyes said he began throwing again in early January and feels like he's ready to go for the season. Despite the late arrival to camp, Reyes doesn't believe it will hinder his ability to get ready for the start of Grapefruit League games in less than a week.

"The good thing about it is that I get ready pretty quick," Reyes said. "It doesn't take me a long time. I think I'm going to catch up soon. It's never taken long in my career to get ready, and hopefully this isn't the year it will take me longer."

Visa updates: The target day for Francisco Liriano's first workout with the Twins appears to now be Tuesday.

Twins general manager Bill Smith said Friday that he expects Liriano to be able to pick up his work visa on Monday at the U.S. Consulate in the Dominican Republic and hopefully travel to Fort Myers later that day. The hope had been that the left-hander might be able to get the visa on Friday, but Smith said that there was some issue with the Consulate that prevented it from happening.

Liriano, whose visa process was prolonged due to new mandates stemming from his 2006 drunken driving arrest, threw a couple of innings at the Twins Dominican Academy on Friday morning.

The Twins could also have all of their position players in uniform for Saturday's first full-squad workout.

Alexi Casilla picked up his work visa on Friday morning. Smith said he was hopeful that the infielder would be able to make the final flight out of the Dominican Republic later in the day so he could attend the workout.

Difference in opinion: Rays outfielder Carl Crawford continued his assault on his former teammate and new Twin, Delmon Young, on Friday.

Crawford didn't seem to appreciate Young's reaction Thursday to his initial comments that the Rays clubhouse was now much more peaceful without the outfielder and another former teammate, Elijah Dukes.

"These are exactly the kind of distractions we were talking about with the Rays, a young guy popping off at the mouth, talking too much," Crawford told the St. Petersburg Times. "He needs to just shut up and play baseball."

Young hardly seemed to be popping off when he first responded to Crawford's comments. He said that while some of his fellow players criticized him during his time in Tampa Bay, those same people ended up criticizing the Rays organization once they left. It's why, Young said, he didn't worry too much about Crawford's remarks.

And Young had a similar calm demeanor Friday. Young was handed a copy of the story with Crawford's latest comments and chose not to engage in the war of words.

The outfielder instead smiled and shrugged his shoulders as he said, "There is not too much to worry about. We've got stuff going on down here in Fort Myers. You know, I just responded back."

When asked if he felt the need to talk to Crawford following the most recent comments, Young said no, not at all.

"I'm down in Fort Myers and I'm with the Twins now," Young said. "I'm not part of the Rays organization anymore. I'm not really worried about anything there. I'm just worried about the guys in this clubhouse and playing good ball down here."

State of the team address: Saturday will be the first time this spring that Twins manager Ron Gardenhire gets to address his entire squad. He said his message to them this year will be pretty much the same as years past. That means promoting the way the Twins play the game to the many new faces in camp as well as pointing out one other thing about the upcoming season.

"We come in as underdogs," Gardenhire said of the American League Central race. "We do that every year, so this year is no different. ... There are some teams that got it done last year and another one that added a whole bunch, so I expect them to be the favorites.

"That gives us something to shoot for -- shock the world, I guess," he added, with a grin. "We like to shock the world. Don't mind that a bit."

Twins tidbits: Gardenhire said that in addition to having Mike Lamb as a backup option at first base, he will also have Craig Monroe and Brian Buscher take reps there this spring. Monroe has played the position some in the past and the skipper would like a right-handed option to spell Justin Morneau at times. ... Outfielder Darnell McDonald has a stiff back, which will keep him from taking live batting practice on Saturday. Infielder Alejandro Machado, who missed the entire 2007 season following surgery on his right shoulder to repair a torn labrum, will also be kept out of some throwing drills. Gardenhire said that while Machado has been able to do everything in the voluntary position player workouts, he's still trying to build up strength in that shoulder so the club will be cautious with him early in camp.

Quotable: "They must've been one home run shy of their quota." -- Gardenhire, when asked about former Twin Jason Tyner signing with the Indians