Cruz delayed by issue at home

TUCSON - Juan Cruz will be delayed in reporting to camp because of an issue with the government in his native Dominican Republic.

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The authorities are seeking to construct a highway through the property on which Cruz's house stands, and he is in negotiations to prevent that. Cruz is expected to report Tuesday.

The slight delay is not expected to be a problem, since Cruz threw a bullpen session for Diamondbacks officials when they were in the Dominican Republic two weeks ago.

VISA DELAYS

Setup man Tony Peņa and newly acquired Juan Gutierrez will be delayed because of visa problems, manager Bob Melvin said.

Gutierrez, a candidate for the rotation at Triple-A Tucson, is expected to arrive Tuesday, but the D-Backs have been given no timetable for Peņa.

Peņa has had difficulty returning to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic every spring since his name change - he originally played under the name of his nephew, Adriano Rosario - four years ago.

"It seems like it is more of a problem this year than in the past, not only for us but for a lot of other teams," general manager Josh Byrnes said.

"The good news is, these guys (from Latin America) are usually in better baseball shape this time of the year than their counterparts."

OWINGS ONLY ON THE MOUND

Fifth starter Micah Owings will not take part in drills at any other position, Melvin said, after mentioning at the winter meetings that Owings could possibly take ground balls at first base in order to have another outlet for his bat.

"It was good offseason fodder to get a few more articles in the paper and keep our name in the headlines," Melvin joked.

"With a guy you count on to be out there every five days for you, injury is first and foremost. To put him in another position, doing other things that could affect not only his routine and tax his body, isn't realistic. Now will he pinch-hit? Absolutely."

Melvin added that Owings, who hit .333 and won an NL Silver Slugger award, also would be unlikely to move up in the lineup.

SHORT HOP

Catcher Miguel Montero is still recovering from a fractured right index finger suffered in winter ball in Venezuela and will be limited in swinging a bat, Melvin said. "He will catch, but maybe we'll limit his throws to second base early on."