10 Things I HATE About The Francisco Liriano Trade

I started making a list of the top 10 things I hate about this Liriano trade.

I'm up to #28.
(Kill me. Or better yet, add on in the comments section.)
1. I hate that after waiting out the market so Liriano was the best remaining rental, the Twins traded him after his one terrible start in the last two months and less than 24 hours before a possible redeeming start.
2. I hate that what the Twins got in return is SO much worse than what other rental pitchers brought back.
3. I hate that despite that evidence, people will defend Minnesota Twins GM Terry Ryan by saying "we don't know what offers they had."
4. I hate that neither player received was ranked in the top 10 of White Sox prospects by Baseball America, which relies heavily on what the organization thinks of their own prospects.
5. I hate that since those rankings, neither player has had a particularly strong year.
6. I hate that the Twins traded with an organization whose farm system is weaker than their own ravaged system.
7. I hate that the only way I could think this trade made sense was if the Twins knew Liriano was hurt and hiding an injury.
8. I hate that the Twins didn't even attempt to negotiate with Liriano.
9. I hate the Twins traded a high-upside player to division rival without knowing if he was willing or maybe desperate to sign a long-term extension.
10. I hate that White Sox GM Kenny Williams first reaction must have been "How soon can I hang up this phone?"
11. I hate that Williams 2nd reaction was likely "Hold it – this is too good. Is there something wrong with Liriano? Is he hurt?"
12. I hate that Williams 3rd reaction was probably "Meh. Even if he is, who cares? All I'm giving up is Escobar and Hernandez!"
13. I hate that the last time we thought a trade was almost this bad was when the Twins traded Capps for Ramos. And even then it wasn't this unanimous. And the Twins stubbornly kept overpaying and bringing Capps back for two years to justify it.
14. I hate that the last time we had this much complete unanimity on how bad a move by the Twins this is was back when they signed Nick Blackburn to a long-term deal, which also involved loving a low strikeout pitcher way too much.
15. I hate that Hernandez is such a stereo-typical Twins pitcher – low strikeouts, good control. I hate that the Twin still think this is really the way to go.
16. I hate that it makes me wonder if Scott Diamond - another low strikeout/great control pitcher with a lot of initial success - is going to end up like Blackburn/Carlos Silva/ Joe Mays sooner rather than later.
17. I hate that the Twins, rather than walking away with their winnings on guys like this, keep doubling-down until they lose.
18. I hate that the Twins acquired a middle infielder that can't get on base.
19. I hate that the Twins acquired a middle infielder that likely won't make the top 10 prospects in their own organization.
20. I hate that this trade reinforces that the Twins have failed to develop decent middle infielders – even when they trade for them.
21. I hate that this trade makes me wonder if the Twins inability to develop good middle infielders doesn't have less to do with their farm system and more to do with their philosophy and scouting.
22. I hate the Liriano was my Gleeman and the Geek Pickpointz pick of the week, making it possibly the worst pick in the history of the game.
23. I hate that if this was the best offer, keeping Liriano wasn't an option.
24. I hate that Ryan felt the need to dump Liriano for this package while simultaneously praising him for his character in the locker room, bringing into question why he didn't keep him around for two more months.
25. I hate that the most obvious answer to that question might be fiscal. And that implies that cut-backs could make 2013 even more painful than last year.
26. I hate that Terry Ryan did exactly the opposite of what he said he was going to do: acquired low-upside players close to the major instead of high-upside players further from the majors.
27. I hate that this makes me doubt Terry Ryan's leadership of the Twins.
28. I hate that I no longer want the Twins to trade for any more "prospects" at the trade deadline.

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I started making that list for the Gleeman and the Geek podcast, which was dominated by Liriano chatter, but also branched out into the next players the Twins might move. Here are:

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Over at Twins Daily, don't miss Parker Hageman's breakdown of Sam Deduno's "crazy" fastball. You can also catch up on the latest minor league news or join the 200+ comment reaction to the Liriano trade.