Miller: Twins offered Liriano a 2-year contract

Did we know this? I don't think we did.

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Liriano said the Twins, who traded him to the White Sox at the trade deadline last July, offered him a two-year contract last winter, too, but the Pirates’ offer was better. Besides, he said, “I wanted to go to the National League. I wanted to try something different. For me, it’s a chance to kind of start over.”

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Of course, he also says he thought about just taking 2013 off to "let his body heal."

I don't have any idea what I would have thought of that. I probably would've liked it better than the Correia signing.

Liriano says Twins offered him two-year contract | StarTribune.com

It would be hard for me to come up with a signing I like less than the Correia deal. The Liriano deal would have been marginally better but still pretty bad.

On the other hand, I think there's a decent chance he'll thrive in the NL.

Yeah. I wish Liriano were back, but under different circumstances. He was the only guy the Twins had who had Ace stuff for a while. Just this manager and coaches were not able to help him harvest it. So he needed a new start and maybe will find people who will help him reach his potential there...

I am a little leery of blaming the manager and coaches for Liriano's failures. I notice that the White Sox couldn't fix Liriano either. Unlike many, I don't think Liriano was/is a head case either. I think he just couldn't manage his mechanics, repeat his delivery or whatever you want to call it. After his surgery, he lost some velocity and maybe some of the bite on his slider. He couldn't compensate by learning to locate his pitches better, and couldn't get by just rearing back and throwing harder. It is possible somebody will "fix" Liriano, but more likely he just continue to be very inconsistent.

As far as giving him a 2 year contract, I really can't understand why anyone would do that, especially the Twins who have watched him pitch for the last 4 years. I guess it goes to show how desperate teams are for pitching and how pitchers with good stuff are in demand even when they have shown they can't control their stuff.

I think we're glossing over an important sentance in the interview, Liriano says the Pirates offer was better. Not surprisingly, the Twins did not offer what the Pirates did. Without a firm figure, it's kind of hard to say if the Twins were right or wrong in their assesment.

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Originally Posted by Jim H

I am a little leery of blaming the manager and coaches for Liriano's failures. I notice that the White Sox couldn't fix Liriano either. Unlike many, I don't think Liriano was/is a head case either. I think he just couldn't manage his mechanics, repeat his delivery or whatever you want to call it. After his surgery, he lost some velocity and maybe some of the bite on his slider. He couldn't compensate by learning to locate his pitches better, and couldn't get by just rearing back and throwing harder. It is possible somebody will "fix" Liriano, but more likely he just continue to be very inconsistent.

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This times ten. I always despised the "head case" label. Why were his mechanical issues automatically described as mental issues? I never understood that. To me, Liriano just wasn't the same after his major surgery and never adjusted to his diminished stuff. The way some talked about him, you'd have thought he was going to wander off the field if Drew Butera wasn't there to focus his attention. It's hard to remember, but he never had great command as a prospect.

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Originally Posted by Brad Swanson

This times ten. I always despised the "head case" label. Why were his mechanical issues automatically described as mental issues? I never understood that. To me, Liriano just wasn't the same after his major surgery and never adjusted to his diminished stuff. The way some talked about him, you'd have thought he was going to wander off the field if Drew Butera wasn't there to focus his attention. It's hard to remember, but he never had great command as a prospect.

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A modern day Rube Waddell, he'd often become distracted by shiny objects and puppies and chase fire engines.

I'm just as glad this didn't happen. A lot of people seem to want to give him another chance in the hope that he will finally reach his potential.

From my perspective, he already has. For whatever reason, be it mechanics or mental, I just don't see him as ever being more than an inconsistent performer with electric stuff. At some point we need to stop thinking about him as a "potential ace" and accept he is as good as he'll ever be.

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Originally Posted by thrylos98

Yeah. I wish Liriano were back, but under different circumstances. He was the only guy the Twins had who had Ace stuff for a while. Just this manager and coaches were not able to help him harvest it. So he needed a new start and maybe will find people who will help him reach his potential there...

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Yeah those miracle caoches in Chicago sure made Gardy and Andy look bad. Quite a bumper crop they pulled out of him.

I think the head case label came from being dominant until giving up a hit then all of a sudden 3 runs would score. Maybe he couldn't pitch well from the stretch. or maybe it was mental. Hard to know from where i sit. But I would have preferred Liriano to Corriea for what its worth.

There is nothing I wouldnt have rather had than Kevin Correia.

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Originally Posted by thrylos98

Yeah. I wish Liriano were back, but under different circumstances. He was the only guy the Twins had who had Ace stuff for a while. Just this manager and coaches were not able to help him harvest it. So he needed a new start and maybe will find people who will help him reach his potential there...

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Right, totally the coaching staff's fault that he failed to follow offseason exercise routines, came into camp out of shape multiple times, and frequently could not find the strike zone.

I love Liriano, but he's created his own problems and continues to do so now -- the bizarre broken arm incident being a prime example. I always found the narrative that the Twins were somehow responsible for his struggles quite misguided.