The White Sox tried hard to land Zack Greinke before he went to the Angels, so they instead turned to a familiar foe to shore up the rotation. The team announced that they have acquired Francisco Liriano from the Twins for infielder Eduardo Escobar and left-hander Pedro Hernandez.
Liriano, 28, has been a prominent member of the trade rumor circuit for several years now. He's eligible for free agency after the season and is owed approximately $2.1MM for the remainder of the year. Injuries and inconsistency have dogged the left-hander throughout his career, and this year he's pitched to a 5.31 ERA in exactly 100 innings.
The Twins originally acquired Liriano from the Giants as a minor leaguer as part of the A.J. Pierzynski–Joe Nathan swap back in 2003. He placed third in the Rookie of the Year voting in 2006 and earned Cy Young Award votes in 2010, but he's pitched to a 5.18 ERA in 234 1/3 innings since. Liriano went from the rotation to the bullpen and back to the rotation this year, posting a 3.68 ERA in 11 starts since becoming a starter again.
The White Sox are adding one of the game's premier strikeout pitchers to their staff with the trade. Even during his down years, Liriano has always missed bats and he owns a 9.8 K/9 this season. Walks are an issue however, especially of late. Over the last two years he's walked five hitters for every nine innings pitched. He figures to join Chris Sale and Jose Quintana to make three lefties in the ChiSox rotation.
Escobar, 23, has hit .202/.276/.247 in 99 plate appearances over the last two seasons while playing second, third, short, and left field. He's a .270/.315/.351 career hitter in the minors, and before the season Baseball America ranked him as Chicago's tenth best prospect in their Prospect Handbook. "While Escobar has quick hands at the plate, he has yet to develop the strength or discipline to be an effective hitter," wrote the publication.
Hernandez, 23, allowed eight runs in four innings in his first career big league start earlier this season. He's pitched to a 2.94 ERA in 85 2/3 innings split between Double-A and Triple-A this year. Baseball America did not consider him one of the team's top 30 prospects coming into 2012. Both Hernandez and Escobar have been assigned to Triple-A Rochester, the Twins announced. A corresponding 40-man roster move will be made tomorrow.
Photo courtesy of US Presswire.
Good deal for White Sox, got a starter with some upside (though risk) for at best 2 fringy future major leaguers.
Completely agree.
A lot of trades happening within divisions.
Got to love Kenny William’s aggressiveness
No offense to these prospects mentioned but it’s amusing how most of these deals end up involving players that are largely underwhelming with the exceptions being Turner for Sanchez and Infante and Segura in the Greinke deal.
You should hear what some people are suggesting Headley should net.
Liriano has been mostly terrible the past two years, did you expect the White Sox to trade their best prospect for him?
Not sure how you pulled that conclusion from what I said.
My statement was addressing how so many fans of team “A” are demanding these lofty returns for their player yet most of the trades with the exception of the two I mentioned have brought back relatively lackluster returns vs what the fan expectations were.
You can probably add the Padre’s fans to that list if Headley is indeed traded in the next few days.
Who else that has been traded did people expect a lofty return for?
do they even have a good prospect
You mean a cost controlled top 5 3B in his prime is going to get back mediocre prospects? Ok……
I think people discount Headley because his overall numbers are crazy, but if you look at his home/road splits the difference is enormous
Even if you go strictly by road numbers he would provide below average power at what has been a historically power producing position. Something like 30 hr in 300 road games.
I think teams will be more than happy to give up a bit of power considering Headley’s plus defense.
They may very well be willing to accept that trade off of power vs defense but I can almost guarantee you they won’t value his defense enough to give up 3 top 100 prospects. That’s all I’m saying.
Based on your previous comments, I’m sure you meant to say “they don’t value his defense enough…”
And I agree with you, 100%. Using the Orioles as the example here, overzealous Padre fans all over MLBTR keep saying that there’s no way the O’s can get Headley unless Manny Machado is included in the deal. And that’s just insane. Top 10 overall prospects simply are not traded unless the return is franchise-changing. Chase Headley is a very good player, especially with the glove, and I’d love to have him on the O’s. But he is absolutely no franchise-changing.
exactly right sir. headley has positive value but people need to temper these demands for him. 3 top 100 prospects would rate as Texeira-ish.
lol at top 5
Look at his road splits he easily would be of he didn’t play half his games at petco
when you consider he’s getting paid $2.3M this year, $3.5M in 2013 and has arb in 2014, yes he’s top 5. Not easy to find a cheap 3B who isn’t terrible defensively and can hit.
You have an interesting take on understanding the english language. The quote in question is “You mean a cost controlled top 5 3B” which absolutely means a top 5 3B who is also cost controlled, not a top 5 cost controlled 3B. When you figure that out, we can all move on.
Beltre, Longo, Zimmerman, Wright and Moustakas…..just off the top of my head of who I would put ahead of Headley.
Zimmerman, LOL. He’s owed at least $120M in the next 9 years (including this year). If the Nationals wanted to trade Zimmerman they couldn’t
I never said I would TRADE for Zim but I do think he’s overall better than Headley. Understand the argument sir.
Salary doesn’t count? Every team in the league would take Headley over Zimmerman given the option. You can’t just ignore a players massive contract.
Again…I wasn’t arguing who I would trade for just who is better than Headley at that position right now. The argument wasn’t “who are the 3 best and most affordable 3b”.
Miguel Cabrera is the best. It’s not even close.
Maybe I should have said what I heard mentioned. 3 top 100 prospects in Mason Williams, Manny Banuelos and Tyler Austin…no.
Banuelos can’t stay healthy and has dropped out of a lot of top 50 lists (most midseason lists are only top 50). Why would the Padres trade Headley for bad prospects? They don’t need to trade him, so that’s probably what it would take to get him
Yes they do. Gyorko is knocking on the door! he’s demolishing AAA pitching, there’s no point in not trading Headley for some young pieces.
His injuries have been minor but that’s not the point. Could care less what you think of him. That was a Padre’s fan suggestion of what should be required. Still…Mans, Williams and Austin are all top 100 guys and Headley isn’t worth any combo of 3 top 100 guys regardless of what organization it comes from. I would say that if he suggested Barnes, Bradley and add any other of their top 100 guys from Boston.
Silly comment. He has dropped out of top 50 BECAUSE he’s been injured. If healthy, he would be on Law’s top 50 list. Your bias against the Yankees is clouding your judgement.
i don’t have a bias against the Yankees. If a guy isn’t in a top x list, then you can’t just say he’s a top x player he just got hurt.
Sure you can, if the person assembling the list (Keith Law) said Banuelos would be on the list if he wasn’t injured. So… why let little things like facts get in the way of your hatred, right? haha so ridiculous!
Also, don’t let the fact that I said 3 top 100 prospects (and Mans is still top 100 on all lists that are out) get in the way. Never said he was still listed as a top 50 prospect.
People still want Manny Banuelos?
A 21 year old lefty at AAA? Who would want that. Don’t let his minor injuries f00l you sir. What’s the difference between him and Martin Perez?
The only yankees prospect that interest me are those in A ball
Lmfao really top five? Is it his 104 strikeouts or .260 average that places him so high?
Liriano will blossom now that he is away from Anderson,.
That is a distinct possibility.
I am a big fan of Don Cooper. If there’s anything to get out of Liriano, he’ll get it.
I’m really excited about this trade!!!
Yuck, not a Liriano fan at all. Plus I really liked Escobar and Hernandez’s ceiling is pretty high.
Escobar will never be much more than a midfield utility guy. Hernandez could be good though.
I agree.
Hernandez’s ceiling is not high, none of the writeups about him has said that he’s much more than a 4 or 5th starter & more likely a bullpen guy. I like Escobar too but his future is as a utility player. If Don Cooper can work his magic, Liriano might be an absolute steal. Let’s hope. Sox just shelled Liriano, so maybe they saw something.
I just hope we didn’t trade for Jonathan Sanchez 2.0
its not as if he is a guarantee to stick in the rotation/ on the roster, kenny could always make another more, there is always august trades(usually meaning taking on a big contract) there is always danks coming back also, as of right now the white sox have peavy-sale-floyd-quintana and liriano
This trade benefits the Detroit Tigers more than the Chicago White Sox.
HAHAHAH I could not agree more
i mean at worst he heads to the bullpen as another quality strikeout pitcher, and at best, he becomes a good, solid starter. Escobar was good defensively, but not hitting much, and hernandez wasnt in the Sox future plan anyway so solid deal.
explain? his numbers with exception to the game against the whitesox this week have been getting better since the start of the season, his last ten starts his ERA is 4.2 and thats with the beating he took from the sox and not including the 0 earned runs he gave up against oakland, with that start his ERA is 3.8, to put it simple the guy is getting better and had a horrible start to the season, ask any twins fan he has been pitching better. and he is going to become the sox 5th starter thus solidifying their rotation and no more AAA/AAAA guys filling in to get bombed
You should’ve extended him, Terry.
you know they can do just that in about 4 months
Not a top rotation guy that some of us were hoping for(pipe dreams) but he is a solid pick up. Low risk high reward guy. Maybe working with copper can help him get back to his former self. And at the cost of a slap hitting all glove shortstop who is blocked anyway and a guy who more than likely had no future on the 25 man roster. I like it.
Not a horrible deal for the White Sox. I am cautiously optimistic since Liriano has thrown better lately (as opposed to the beginning of this year and last year.) Maybe Coop can have an effect on him. I am not at all miffed about what we’ve given up.
Thumbs up on this trade. Liriano has pitched much better recently. He was blown up in his last start (against the sox), but he had posted 7 QS in his last 10 outings. No one of value was lost. Escobar is a nice utility player, but those are easier to replace than SPs with upside. Danks is probably done for the year, so we needed a lefty in the rotation.
KW will prob now trade for a quality bench/utility bat.
Wouldn’t surprise me one bit. Kenny is always looking and never afraid to make a deal. Scutaro would have actually been an ideal fit for what they were looking for.
Who knows who it could be though. The situation reminds me of the Geoff Blum trade in ’05.
scutaro outside of coors is a shell of his former self
we should have just kept Edwin Jackson if we wanted a strike out pitcher with a terrible ERA….
Yeah, it doesn’t work like that. Jackson was a FA and got 10 mil as opposed to Liriano’s 2 mil. Jackson also netted us the one prospect that Kenny was able to flip to acquire Youk. Sox still have 5 starters in the rotation (Sale, Quintana, Peavy, Floyd, and Humber) so if Liriano is awful they can stick him in the pen where lefties are hitting a paltry .195 against him.
The risk for this deal is low and as a sox fan I know how good Liriano can be.
We gave up a budding 2-3 guy that we would have been able to control for years to come for Jackson if you want to be technical.. (Hudson) so in the long run getting Liriano for Hudson isn’t a good deal.. We would have gotten Youk no matter who we tossed to Boston.
What-ifs could go back for years. I mean, I would rather have Gio Gonzalez and AGon right now. The Jackson trade was made to get help for what they thought could have been a postseason run. Didn’t work and they got something for him while they could. It was never an option to give EJax a 10 million contract at the beginning of the year. No one thought this team was going to contend.
Both the Dodgers and Pirates were in on Youk. The Red Sox view Stewart as a quality prospect and a future mid rotation guy. They also made it known they would rather trade Youk to an NL team. If they would have just dumped him, he wouldn’t be on the Sox right now.
yay trades!
9.8k/9 in a down year??? Seriously that’s awesome. Some offense and defense behind him, coop working his magic. This could work out very well
take a look at his walk rate
i see that, and actually his per game rate has lowered a lot in his recent starts, but control can be fixed
look i think it is a nice addition for the WS given how little they paid for him, but he hasn’t fixed his control yet in his career I doubt he’ll do it now
change of scenery, change of voice coaching him, change of philosophy, change of coaching tactics and thought about what needs to be traded it could help, its not like he touted as an ace or a top rotation guy, this is a 5th maybe 6th starter at best at worst he is a vet in the pen to help eat some innings…100% a low risk high reward
Control can be fixed? Tell that to Dontrelle Willis.
But you have to wonder if Coop can help that out too. If Liriano buys in to what Coop pushes, that walk rate will go down. What would worry me more is flyball rate and HR/9… which I haven’t looked at yet.
so when was the last time a guy was traded to a team he no-hit?
We can ask Tim Kurkjian, he’ll know
YES! The mighty Tim knows all! ha ha
That would be interesting to find out. The last pitcher I recall to no-hit a team and then pitch for that same team later in his career was Dave Stewart. He no-hit the Jays as a member of the Athletics rotation on 6/29/90 then signed with the Blue Jays in ’93 as a free agent. Of course, human error means I may have overlooked one or two but I’ll check again.
is it me or do the twins always trade within the division
In all fairness, wouldn’t you want to trade Liriano within your division?
haha…
I don’t know if it was mentioned in the 60 comments below already but to correct the above mention of Hernandez not being a prospect. Hernandez was the #23 prospect for the San Diego Padres and was not traded to Chicago until after the finalization of the White Sox Prospect List. He was part of the Carlos Quentin deal.
Bummed that the Orioles didnt get him – strange to deal w/in division, must not have been as much interest as previously thought.
Floyd, Quintana, Peavy, Liriano, Humber and Sale…who goes to the pen? Will it be Humber (pitched a great game tonight but got shelled last time out), or is it the rookie Quintana? Or will KW trade floyd for a nice bat of the bench and to free up cap space to extend Liriano? Big questions to be answered but very exciting nonetheless!
Exactly what I was thinking. My guess, they send Quintana down to keep getting him regular work and if Liriano continues to suchk they can always move him to the ‘pen and bring Quintana back up.
considering sale has never pitched(professionally) more than he is at now, and Quintana is also nearing his career total, I would bet Sale and Quintana both get every other start of theirs skiped and liriano fits into the skipped starts. Maybe even skip a few peavy starts…Example week 1 sale pitches ad Liriano pitches for Quintana, next week/ go through the rotation, quintana pitches, Liriano pitches for Sale..
total insanity. quintana has been arguably their second best starter.
I don’t disagree, just what I think might happen.
They’ll trade Floyd. At least I expect them to.
Sale will probably be shut down at some point to save his arm. Just look at the drop in velocity in his last start.
sale wont be shut down the sox are 2.5 games in first and he is their best pitcher, if anything they go to a 6 man rotation or skip every other sale start, he is too important to this team getting to the play offs and trying to make a run at a world series to get shut down, but i also agree with the guy under me floyd will more than likely be traded
my guess is a 6 man rotation, skipping sale every once and a while
Thank you, Kenny Williams, for disabling Wren and the Braves from making the mistake in bringing Liriano to ATL.
Will he start against the Twins on Monday? I’ll be at the game Tuesday…maybe Mon or Wed. too if he starts one of those days!
Low risk deal for the White Sox. He’s owed a small amount of money (relatively speaking of course), didn’t cost any major minor league pieces, and if he sucks you let him go to free agency. At best, he’ll pitch well and help the White Sox get to the postseason.
I was hoping the Twins would resign him on the cheap but if that wasn’t a possibility than I am glad they got two young players that are close to the majors.
I give Kenny Williams alot of credit in acquiring Pitcher Francisco Liriano. The guy is a power lefthanded pitcher who can help The White Soxs go for a championship.
If he can keep that slider down and breaking…he can be a nice fit
in his last 11 games, including the blow out against his new team this week, his ERA is 3.8, he is getting better. He still has a great k/9 if coop can fix his walks this could be a great pick up, my guess is a minimum they have another vet for the pen who can spot start for sale, jose, and peavy and at best it forces humber to the pen and he becomes close to his former self. Coop work your magic,…
also watch for a floyd or humber trade in the next few days
good trade
really shocked that the Jays didn’t beat this package.
not sure whats going on in that front office lately.
Not a huge help to the White Sox.
Lirano ain’t all that good. But the question is why is the AL East the only division in baseball that won’t trade within the divison?
Jays refused to trade Hallady to the Yankees, even though he only wanted to go the Yanks or Phillies. Rays would never consider trading Shields to the Yanks.
AL East is the only divsion that refuses to trade within.