Pirates Sign Francisco Liriano

The Pirates signed Francisco Liriano to a 2 year $14 million deal today. The 29 year old southpaw is the definition of inconsistent. In 2006 with the Twins he posted an ERA under 3.00 and had another strong season in 2008 after missing the 2007 season. Every other year (minus his 3.91 ERA in 2010) he has an ERA in the upper 4.00 or 5.00 and higher. He was below average in 2012 after starting off terribly with the Twins, being demoted to the pen, having a nice stretch of starts, then being traded to the White Sox and having a sub par season with them.

He has tons of upside but he plays awful at times and it's not just every now and then. I like that he's a lefty coming into PNC Park. The NL shift and the stadium shift should help him out. I also like that if he struggles we have the depth to move him to the pen (something he's very familiar with) and bring up a younger guy until he gets on his feet. I also like his massive strikeout numbers. He averaged a 9.6 K/9 last year which is big for a starting pitcher.

Now this has a large impact on Joel Hanrahan. It's been rumored that we want a starting pitcher for him. Well, with a rotation of Burnett, Rodriguez, McDonald, Liriano, and McPherson/Locke/other less likely possibilities I think the rotation is complete. So that means start looking for trades for hitters or prospects rather than pitchers. This also boosts the payroll quite a bit so I would still expect them to move him. I've heard the Red Sox are the top contenders and they want a deal for one of their relievers. That's not enough. I like their outfielder Nava if they'd give him up. Maybe a Pedro Ciriaco reunion? Who knows. I just expect him to be traded but for something other than a starter now.

Is this a good deal? I'm not sure yet. It depends on which Liriano you're able to get. The Liriano that's anywhere near 2006-2008 capability, 2009, 2011-2012 below average Liriano, or the average 2010 Liriano. For $7 mill a year, he needs to be the first or last version I mentioned. Can't afford to be anything less. I like how Tom Singer, Pirates Reporter for MLB.com, put it. This is basically Liriano for Correia and we need to hope this works out better than Bedard for Maholm did last year.