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WTF lol

MLB Trade Rumors ‏@mlbtraderumors
Pirates To Sign Francisco Liriano http://bit.ly/XUvsfi #mlb

Baker, Villanueva and Feldman deals keep looking better.

i love this deal for them, and i'd have preferred it to the Feldman or Villanueva signings for us

Over the last 2 years, 5.23 ERA 4.43 FIP 4.31 xFIP 5.01 BB/9. I'm pretty happy we stayed away from that.

I would prefer it over Villanueva but I like the Feldman deal more than the Liriano deal.

Pitt. made a similar signing with Burnett last year and it worked out great for them as far as pitchers with better stuff and getting that finally translate.

I think it was a very good move for the Bucs and one I would've liked to have seen the Cubs do.

Same here. I don't like Villanueva at all and think Liriano has a higher upside.

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Retired User Name: Jody, Jody Davis (2005-2012)

The difference of course being that Villanueva was apparently willing to accept being a swingman and/or bullpen arm. Unless you like Liriano better than Feldman or Baker, there wasn't a guaranteed rotation slot to offer him.

That may be true, but Villanueva is a very expensive swingman.

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Retired User Name: Jody, Jody Davis (2005-2012)

Villanueva is a swingman guy b/c he can't last 180IP without falling off the map, Baker won't be ready for the start and who knows with Garza.

Even if they did run into a situation later on this Summer with too many starters for rotation spots, a productive Liriano has more trade value than a productive Villanueva.

He's also going to most likely be getting all the starts after the trade deadline when we presumably move Baker and Feldman.

FWIW, the updates are now $13M for 2 years.

I like this. Before this, we had 2 rookies slotted for 4 & 5. Now we only need one of them. His being left handed will play well @ PNC. An overpay to be sure, but that's what we need to do. If he wins 10 games and keeps his ERA under 5, this is a good deal.

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Resident Pirate fan of nsbb.com

+1

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There are no trophies given for wins/dollar

Jake when does Cole come into play? Mid season? Next year?

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David Posted a FanGraphs link in the Villanueva thread that stated, given his past results, he would be worth his contract even if used solely in the swingman/relief role.

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Team Theo.

Liriano in the first half of 2011 was exactly what we should expect Liriano to be in the first half of 2012 and the twins got absolute garbage from the Sox for him. Liriano is past the point even were his name has any value.

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KING OF THE VWR

"I feel better now, I know I'm not going to die. That's too bad for my family. They thought they were going to be rich without doing anything.'' -Ozzie Guillen

Man, Fangraphs is awesome.

Best guess is post all star game. Keep in mind he's had exactly 1 AAA start and it didn't go well at all. Team is doing well and he's doing well, that's my best guess.

I think a lot of it depends on circumstance. If the team is playing like Houston played last year, I don't see him coming up until September. If the team is floundering early and the pitching isn't getting the job done, and he does well his first couple of starts @ Indy, I wouldn't be surprised to see him early May.

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Resident Pirate fan of nsbb.com

Depends how well he does in SEAL training this spring

That's b/c Liriano hasn't been able to get his stuff to translate into results, similar to when the Yankees had Burnett and there were wondering if the Cubs and Yanks would unload two bad contracts between Zambrano and Burnett, each had bad deals till the end of those contracts. Burnett went to the NL, improved his control whether he pitched to contact a little more is up for debate but he improved his stock greatly from a year ago. I'd be curious to see what the reaction was when Pitt acquired him.

If Liriano can maintain his stuff and get his ERA to be near his FIP, possibly pitch to cpntact more as well as going from the AL to the NL, I think we will see improvement from him.

I think we'll see Liriano have a much higher WAR than Villanueva during the durations of theses contracts. Also, if he shows any type of consistency or flashes like he had '10, with that cheap contract, he'll have more value than Villanueva.

I would be willing to bet that Liriano has a lower FIP and a higher WAR two years from now.

I'm not debating that, but do you get him to sign with assurances that he might get starts here or there if guys aren't healthy or get traded? I'm thinking no. Why accept any uncertainty about his role when can just sign with a team with fully open rotations slots?

It's worth looking into, we'll never know whether or not the Cubs were interested in Liriano or not but at the time Villanueva was signed, Jackson wasn't signed. They knew they were close with Jackson but the only thing I can see is them valuing Villanueva more b/c of his ability to spot-start and come out of the pen as a better fit than Liriano who has started more.

With that said, the numerous questions about injuries with the rotation and the likely greater production/value Liriano would bring, I would have rather seen them sign him to that contact and worry about roster composition at a later date than possibly settle for a "better" fit.

Hope they take it slow with him and he's able to iron out his delivery/command.

Also wish he'd be traded to an AL team so I can root for him without fear of him hurting the Cubs.

ABTY had mentioned earlier in the offseason that the Cubs had an offer out to him, same as Feldman's, but Feldman accepted.

If Minn and CWS couldn't get him to pitch to contact, no one can. That's just not Liriano. That's like saying if we could just get Bourn to hit 20 hrs, he'd be great! Ohh and Liriano hasn't put up good FIPs.

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KING OF THE VWR

"I feel better now, I know I'm not going to die. That's too bad for my family. They thought they were going to be rich without doing anything.'' -Ozzie Guillen