Liriano's agent requests investigation

[TheRealMattKain]

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=Av.veM9ouAozQNwVsUCqJ0ERvLYF?slug=ap-twins-liriano&prov=ap&type=lgns

 

Has anyone else been following this? Liriano has been tearing up Triple-A, but the Twins refuse to promote him. He'd arguably be an upgrade over anyone in the current Twins rotation ("arguably"). Are they afraid to swallow Livan's salary (the big underperformer in the rotation)? Is it a clever ruse to avoid arbitration? I'm not sure that the league can do anything since teams do this sort of stuff all the time (like we did with Braun), but it sets a weird precedent to see a player complaining about it. Then again, I'd love to pry a disgruntled Liriano away from Minnesota.

[Glennron]

I love what they say about Hernandez:

He is 9-6 with a 5.44 ERA and is on pace to become the first pitcher since Atlanta's Phil Niekro in 1979 to allow more than 300 hits in a season, making his spot the most vulnerable in the rotation at the moment.

Followed by:

But the Twins also love Hernandez's big-game experience as a balance for Blackburn, Slowey, Baker and Perkins, none of whom have started in the postseason.

How much is Hernandez making that they wouldn't want to swallow his salary?

[kramnoj]

He's on a one year deal for $5 million.

[Invader3K]

Well, the other thing is that the Twins have been on quite a tear lately. It's not like they're scuffling by and obviously need another starter.

[MessiahRp]

If the Twins don't want Liriano, I would love if we could acquire him. It might offset the potential holes our rotation could have when CC and Sheets are lured away in FA. Liriano and Gallardo would be a potent 1-2 punch. Not to mention having him in our rotation now would be better than some of our backend guys.

 

Rp

[endaround]

I doubt its the Twins don't want Liriano, they want a healthy Liriano. If he relapses they don't want him burning service time on the DL.

[PlayerHader]

I would hope this doesn't set a precedent for the league, players, and agents dictating how teams run their systems. The Twins have their reasons, and as long is it isn't simply a plot to destroy Liriano's career, then there should be nothing anyone can do about it.

[RU Rah Rah]

The union investigated the claims of every good AAA player who thought he should be promoted, well . . . let's just say they'd be pretty busy.

[burniebrewer]

I've followed Liriano closely (fantasy) and everything I've read this year indicates the Twins don't feel they have an open rotation slot for him.

 

In Liriano's defense, he has been on quite a tear over the last month in AAA.

[crewcrazy]

Weren't they sending him back down to AAA to build up his arm strength to where it was pre-Tommy John surgery? I saw on ESPN's BottomLine that he's like 8-0 with a 2-ish ERA in his last 10 starts, but has he been working deep into games, or has he been a 6-inning pitcher at Rochester? It's not like the Twins are trying to "Delmon" him like the Rays did all those years (kind of ironic that Delmon is now on the Twins) -- Liriano's supposed to be working his way back from an injury.

[Fatter than Joey]

The Twins are only 1.5 games out of first place -- I can't imagine that they would keep Liriano in AAA unless there were very real health issues.

[burniebrewer]

In his last 4 starts at AAA Rochester his stats are:

 

 

28 IP, 17 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 32 K

[RyDogg66]

in the Twins defense, he was awful for them in April.

[burniebrewer]

in the Twins defense, he was awful for them in April.

He sure was.

 

I'm guessing he's finally feeling confident in his repaired arm.

 

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

I called the Livan Hernandez signing a mistake at the time and compared it to the Ramon Ortiz signing the year before, and that mistake is being exposed right now because now they are committed to Livan in the $$$ department. Livan did give them serviceability for a half season, but was that worth 5 million dollars? I don't think so if it blocks a young pitcher from getting a chance in July. I'm pretty sure the Twins have other arms in AAA they could have used instead of Liriano, if not Bonser. And as lucky as the Twins are, I'm sure that player would have pitched like Sandy Koufax.

[cwolf2012]

Release him. He's clearly a clubhouse menace that could only be cured by the Brewers' awesome team chemistry.

[MickeyDavis]

At least we don't have this problem with our former all-star pitcher who's currently in triple A. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[RightFieldCoder]

Good idea Mickey. I think a change of scenery is needed for both of them.

 

I'm not going to cry a single tear for any player that cries about his pay at the beginning of his career until the Union accepts a cap to limit pay at the end of careers.

[dvoiss]

If I am the GM of a team that has just won 21 of their last 28 games I'm not going to change a thing. Why would I? If it ain't broke don't fix it. What does his agent think an investigation is going to prove anyway? If he keeps pitching well he will eventually get the call or get traded to an organization who can use him.

[Bruce Ciskie]

I hope nothing comes of this.

 

Odd fact: Hernandez and Liriano have the same agent. Not sure what to make of this.

[Principessa21]

I know Liriano wasn't pitching well in the beginning of the year, but it seems to me another case of an organization holding back a player to minimalize service time and save money. It's the org's agenda to do what's best for them in the long term (which I would hope would be all clubs) but this seems it should be against some agreement so I don't blame Liriano for being upset.

[Bruce Ciskie]

I know Liriano wasn't pitching well in the beginning of the year, but it seems to me another case of an organization holding back a player to minimalize service time and save money. It's the org's agenda to do what's best for them in the long term (which I would hope would be all clubs) but this seems it should be against some agreement so I don't blame Liriano for being upset.

 

Sorry to burst your bubble, but this likely has nothing to do with the Twins being cheap.

 

Liriano could come up now and not qualify for arbitration this off-season. Here is more from the Star Tribune's Joe Christensen:

Liriano has two years and 45 days of major league service time. A player needs three years of service time to qualify for arbitration, but of the players with between two and three years, the top 17 percent qualify for arbitration as "Super Twos."

For Liriano, qualifying for arbitration would likely earn him more than $1 million in additional 2009 salary, but even if the Twins promoted him today, with 74 days remaining in the season, he would likely fall far short of the Super Two threshold.

This is simply an agent overprotecting the interests of his player. In reality, there isn't anything wrong with that, but in this case, the agent is going so far as to question the Twins' ability to put the right players on the major-league roster. And he's accusing a team that's won this division more than once in recent years of putting money ahead of having the best possible team.

[funkyplaidcoat]

I was on vacation a last week and passed through Rochester and coincidentally saw Liriano start for the Redwings. Buffalo's hitters had no chance and even the locals were assuming he'd be called up anytime now. based on what I saw, there's no way he should be on the AAA roster right now.

[Principessa21]

Bruce Ciskie wrote:Sorry to burst your bubble, but this likely has nothing to do with the Twins being cheap.

 

Liriano could come up now and not qualify for arbitration this off-season. Here is more from the Star Tribune's Joe Christensen:

Liriano has two years and 45 days of major league service time. A player needs three years of service time to qualify for arbitration, but of the players with between two and three years, the top 17 percent qualify for arbitration as "Super Twos."

For Liriano, qualifying for arbitration would likely earn him more than $1 million in additional 2009 salary, but even if the Twins promoted him today, with 74 days remaining in the season, he would likely fall far short of the Super Two threshold.

This is simply an agent overprotecting the interests of his player. In reality, there isn't anything wrong with that, but in this case, the agent is going so far as to question the Twins' ability to put the right players on the major-league roster. And he's accusing a team that's won this division more than once in recent years of putting money ahead of having the best possible team.

 

Well you didn't burst my bubble, but thanks for the information.

 

I think I just sympathize with Liriano. Obviously he has the talent to be on the major league roster, but the team's doing what's best for the team, now and for the long run. We might disagree with their strategy, which I do, but I can't knock MIN for their agenda, just like I can't knock Liriano for his either.

[zurch1818]

Liriano called up today. Livan Hernandez and Craig Monroe were DFA. Its amazing that this happened right after the trade deadline.

 

Per ESPN Bottom Line