Well, they did it. The Twins made a move to sell of an extraneous piece before losing him for nothing. Yesterday, the Twins traded away Francisco Liriano to the Chicago White Sox for middle infielder Eduardo Escobar and lefty Pedro Hernandez. Many are displeased with the return, but the only issue I have is that these names might possibly be the most generic Hspanic names I have ever heard.
Listen, Francisco Liriano hasn’t done anything consistently for two full seasons now, and he had only a few months to go with the Twins. He had very little remaining value, and Terry Ryan extracted all of it he could for Liriano. Yes, it was selling low on him, but what else were they going to do? The Twins had to sell, and there hasn’t been much to Liriano’s value in a couple of years now. If they wanted to sell high, they would have done it 2 years ago, back when the Twins were actually a playoff team.
So, yeah, it’s not a great return, but for what they were selling, it’s almost certainly the best they could get. And really, the return is all right. Escobar is an all glove middle infielder, which is great for spelling Trevor Plouffe down the line. He can’t hit at all, but his glove is continually rated as one of the best in the White Sox organization. Hernadez has been very strong in double and triple A, even starting a game at the major league level for Chicago.
It’s two guys that could theoretically contribute next season, for a guy that definitely wouldn’t. It’s a great trade, regardless of what people think.
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