Twins Miss On Francisco Liriano, Signs With Pirates
The Minnesota Twins are in the market for starting pitching help, or at least that is the belief that Twins Territory has been given. It appears however that the desire isn’t all that strong, or the elite level of starting pitching is what the Twins are targeting. Another quality option, and former Twin, Francisco Liriano won’t be reuniting with the Twins any time soon.
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According to Robert Murray of MLBDailyRumors.com (our go to site for breaking MLB news), Francisco Liriano will indeed be staying in Pittsburgh and returning to the Pirates. Despite reports of him wanting a four year deal, it appears Liriano and the Pirates have come to terms on a deal lasting just three years.
Source: Francisco Liriano to the #Pirates on a three-year, $39 million deal.
— Robert Murray (@ByRobertMurray) December 9, 2014
I’d had discussions with Robert earlier in the offseason and it sounded like Liriano was open to a reunion with the Twins. Initially he had wanted a four year deal somewhere around $45 million. It appears however that playing for a contender, and staying with the familiarity that he has built with Pittsburgh might have won out.
Now the Twins are sent reeling as they look for pitching arms to bolster their starting rotation. Phil Hughes is a capable ace for the Twins, and Ricky Nolasco should bounce back to be a quality middle of the rotation starter in 2015, however, the Twins have lots of question marks.
As we have mentioned mutliple times, Minnesota has a large quantity of starting pitching options, but it is the quality aspect that they seem to lack. Trevor May, Tommy Milone, and Kyle Gibson are all good options, but none of them are the ideal number two pitcher. Minnesota could have made a big statement and taken a significant step forward had they decided to acquire a top tier starting pitching to pair with Hughes this offseason.
It now appears that the Twins will have to be content signing someone like Kris Medlen or Brett Anderson. Right now, the Twins have not inquired on Justin Masterson, and he has offers from the Rangers and Red Sox already.
Sorry Twins fans, this one looks like another miss.
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