The Twins didn’t make a move on Thursday allowing the trade deadline to pass without changing the roster.  The team still has a chance to improve its team in a big way by finally recalling Francisco Liriano.  The southpaw really should have been back up in the majors weeks ago, and the Twins finally appear ready to rectify this situation soon.

According to the Minneapolis Start-Tribune, Minnesota appears ready to release Livan Hernandez to create a spot for Liriano in therotation.  (UPDATE:  Liriano has been officially called up along with Randy Ruiz.  Herhandez and Craig Monroe were designated for assignment)  There is credence to the idea that Glen Perkins, Scott Baker, Nick Blackburn, and Kevin Slowey have pitched well and deserve to stay in the rotation.  All four are young and have performed well this season.  The same cannot be said for Hernandez.  Despite the veteran having won 10 games so far, he has clearly been the worst starter for the Twins.  Each start he has made or will make over Liriano diminishes Minnesota’s playoff chances.  Hernandez has a 5.48 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP.  Opponents are batting .341 against him.  He has just 54 strikeouts in nearly 140 innings.  None of these numbers are remotely close to good.

By contrast Liriano has been utterly dominant at Triple-A.  While I don’t exactly agree with him calling out the organization about why he has spent so much time in the minors, he has a completely valid point.  He is 10-2 with a 3.28 ERA at Triple-A Rochester.  He has been even better recently giving up just 5 runs in his last 6 starts (41 IP) and has struck out 8 batters or more in each of them (except once where he had 7).

Minnesota currently trails Chicago by just 0.5 games with 54 games remaining.  If the Twins fall just a game short of the playoffs, they will have no one to blame but themselves for leaving Liriano in the minors for so long.

This man has been in the minor leagues for far too long.