One week from today, the Twins will hold their first pitchers and catchers workout in Fort Myers, Fla., and from all reports, Francisco Liriano is raring to go.
The excitement for Liriano's 2010 season began building last winter, when the lefthander went 3-1 with a 0.49 ERA and a ton of strikeouts for Escogido in the Dominican Winter League playoffs.
Liriano spoke often about how much that helped restore his confidence after going 5-13 with a 5.80 ERA the previous year with the Twins.
He logged about 50 innings for Escogido, took a few weeks off, and then went through a full spring training, before pitching a career-high 191 2/3 innings for the Twins. When it came time to decide whether to let Liriano pitch winter ball again this year, the Twins declined.
"It was time for him to rest, and he understood that," Twins General Manager Bill Smith said.
Even though Liriano hasn't been pitching competitively, he's been working out and is said to be in good shape. Smith gets his reports from Fred Guerrero, a Twins scout who is based in the Dominican Republic.
"Francisco knows this is another big year for him," Smith said.
We'll see how Liriano responds to this week's news that the Twins are open to trading him. Like usual, Smith isn't touching that topic, but since writing this report, I've had team officials remind me that they'll listen to trade offers for anyone, not just Liriano.