Liriano

Liriano had another good start Friday, which will no doubt get the Twins Internet buzzing with excitement. I am not sure it should. Liriano has repeatedly had patches of brilliance. His problem has been inconsistency. A period of brilliance is followed by a rough patch when he gets out of whack. Until he strings together two or three months of these kinds of results, I think it would be wise to assume that pattern will occur again.

This is likely Liriano's last year with the Twins. If he is outstanding, its possible they might make him a one year offer that gets them draft compensation. If they aren't in the pennant race, they may deal him at the trade deadline. But regardless of how he pitches, I think it would be a mistake to sign him to a long term contract. There is nothing he can do this year that would provide any assurance he will be a reliable guy at the top of the rotation for the next few years.