Behind the Diamond, Francisco Liriano

(Fire Power)

Once upon a time the Minnesota Twins ball club had a pitcher named Johan Santana. He was a man of Venezuelan descent who had a mean slider and a lot of Ks after his name. J. Santana was a man I used to love.

"I still love you, Johan, but I'm not in love with you anymore," I say.

"Sí," says Johan. "Yo entiendo, mi amor. Soy un traidor."

"I'm so glad you see things my way," I tell him. I'll allow you to fill in the rest of this dream on your own.

Meanwhile, Johan left me. He left us all, but in a far worse manner than T. Hunter. I thought for a while that perhaps, just perhaps, C. Pohlad would offer Johan a reasonable contract and we might have a 1-2 punch with Santana/Liriano in our lineup. That punch ended up being more of a bitch slap, and some of that slap was in our faces.

Johan dissed us and we got C. Gomez, this guy, this guy and this guy. Liriano started his year like this:

So, we sent him down to AAA with an exponential ERA. And he got antsy. He got antsy and angry. So his agent got antsy and angry with him, and we brought him back up and he did this:

That's what I'm talkin' about, Frankie! Let's expand:

Francisco Liriano

DOB: 10/26/1983

Birthplace: San Cristobal, Dominican Republic

Height: 6'2"

Weight: 225

Bats/Throws: L/L

MLB Debut: 9/5/2005

Straight to the facts:

2005-2007 stats:

Year	Team	W	L	ERA	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	SVO	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO
2005	MIN	1	2	5.70	6	4	0	0	0	0	23.2	19	15	15	4	7	33
2006	MIN	12	3	2.16	28	16	0	0	1	1	121.0	89	31	29	9	32	144
2007	No Major League Stats

2008 stats:

	W	L	ERA	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	SVO	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO
2008	6	4	3.91	14	14	0	0	0	0	76.0	74	40	33	7	32	67

Positive: You're BACK! It may have taken you some time to get back into form and you might have had to head back to AAA before you got the hang of The Show again, but you made it. I'm so proud of you. Also, after presenting the Twins' fan base with an ERA of 11.32 after 3 starts, you came back in August and changed it to a 3.91 ERA. You were still able to end the season with more wins than losses. I cannot wait to see what you bring in your arsenal for 2009. Here's to hoping Carl "Cheap Ass" Pohlad keeps you around a little longer.

Negative: What was up in April, Frank? Yikes. You were on my fantasy baseball team with Cuddles and I have to say that my heart sank during one inning in April. I may or may not have shed a tear on the outside, but I was bawling on the inside. First my 1 punch was gone and now the 2 was gone as well. This was the moment of the bitch slap to my face. Here's a tip: don't ever allow 6 earned runs in .2 innings again. As a fan, I have bounced back from your season, but I doubt the rest of Twins Territory will be as forgiving the next time. Our resiliency is limited.

Positive: F-Bomb, indeed

Negative: I can only hope you've learned your lesson. I would not care for a repeat of this

You will be on my fantasy baseball team next year for sure.