Team Stands Behind Liriano (+ POLL!)

by DavidNYC on Apr 3, 2006 6:48 PM EDT Comment 5 comments

You've probably already seen this bit of news:

Twins top pitching prospect Francisco Liriano was arrested by the Cape Coral Police Department early Thursday morning and charged with driving under the influence.

The 22-year-old pitcher was pulled over on Cape Coral Parkway around 1:58 a.m. ET after leaving a bar in Cape Coral, Fla. Liriano was issued three sobriety tests at the scene and failed all of them. He was given a breathalyzer test at the police precinct where his blood alcohol level registered at .133. The Florida legal limit is .08.

Despite this, according to MLB.com, team management is sticking with Liriano:

Twins general manager Terry Ryan, manager Ron Gardenhire, and Liriano met with the media on Friday morning to talk about the incident. Ryan said that Liriano's status on the team will not be affected and there are no plans to fine or suspend the pitcher, but rather to let the law take its course.

As for Liriano's role with the team, this is what Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports is saying:

Before Twins left-hander Francisco Liriano was arrested for DUI, a rival executive said that the Twins should make room for him as a starter by trading right-hander Kyle Lohse, who will earn $3.95 million this season.

Pitching Liriano in relief, the executive says, is "a waste of his service time." Lohse, a free agent after this season, was 4-0 with a 2.14 ERA in spring training. Given the intense demand for starting pitching, the Twins could exchange him for a more affordable pitcher or hitter.

Do you think Lohse will get traded to make room for Liriano in the starting rotation? Take the poll!

Poll

When will the Twins trade Kyle Lohse?

June

8 votes

July

10 votes

Right at the trading deadline

14 votes

April

0 votes

Not this season, but eventually

18 votes

May

5 votes

Never

9 votes

64 votes | Poll has closed

0 recs | Comment 5 comments |

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Comments

Hmmm...

...a rival GM?

"Before Twins left-hander Francisco Liriano was arrested for DUI, a rival executive said that the Twins should make room for him as a starter by trading right-hander Kyle Lohse, who will earn $3.95 million this season."

Is this rival GM Jim Bowden? Because Jim Bowden signed not only Cristian Guzman to a 4-year $16M dud of a contract, but also managed to pull off the worst trade of this young century with his Wilkerson+goodies for Soriano trade. If that's Jim Bowden's advice, I would run far from it.

But the Nationals aren't really a rival. Could it be Kenny Williams? One could certainly argue that having Brandon McCarthy pitching relief is a waste of his service time, too.

Perhaps it's Mark Shapiro? Well, he probably might want to rethink that advice if it turns out that C.C. Sabathia's injury is serious, in which case it's nice to have someone like Liriano to plug into the rotation.

Maybe whoever that GM is thinks it's a waste of Liriano's service time, but was it a waste of Santana's service time when he was pitching long relief? When it comes to developing pitchers, I think the Twins have earned the benefit of the doubt. (Also if you look at another successful budget team, the A's, they are also completely willing to stockpile arms, even going so far as to add to their already potent starting rotation in the offseason.)

by ubelmann on Apr 3, 2006 10:27 PM EDT reply actions

What he said

You're exactly right, ubelmann. There are a lot of teams out there that wish they had a quality 6th starter (or 3rd, 4th, and 5th starters, for that matter).

What if Radke has arm trouble? What if Baker doesn't pitch well?

by kristocks1 on Apr 3, 2006 11:12 PM EDT reply actions

Backup option

But he could still be at the ready to pitch in case someone went down if he were in AAA.

The difference is, if he were i AAA he could simultaneously be keeping his helahty IP up, and improve via fastball command. Now, his improvement will be slowed and his IP will drop dangerously. It isn't so much a waste of service time as a waste of improvement time.

by AdamOnFirst on Apr 4, 2006 1:50 AM EDT up reply actions

I agree with that...

...although I'm not sure exactly what the Twins' plan is. Really, this seemed like such a last minute decision, with Liriano not getting much work out of the 'pen during spring training, that I don't really think they were planning on this course of action. And if it wasn't their plan all along, it seems like it wouldn't take much to get them to go back to their original plan.

If Liriano winds up being pretty mediocre out of the 'pen over the next couple of weeks, then the Twins might just wind up sending him down to AAA again and calling Reyes up to take his place. In that case, Liriano's innings won't dip too much.

I do worry about Liriano's innings, but I guess that between the chance that Liriano is shaky to begin the season (he is good, but there exists that chance) and the nearly inevitable injury in the rotation, it seems like Liriano will probably get his innings one way or another.

by ubelmann on Apr 4, 2006 2:18 AM EDT up reply actions

Nearly all staffs

have a need for additional starters throughout the season. Liriano will slide into a starters role when the need arises, for whatever reason. In the meantime he will be working in our bullpen with Rick Anderson, facing major league hitters. That may be the best way to improve the minor things he needs to work on. It will also keep his arm fresh for when the conversion to starter occurs.

by roger on Apr 4, 2006 8:53 AM EDT up reply actions