Yankees Want Liriano?

According to a "baseball official with knowledge of the conversations between the two teams"*, the Yankees asked the Twins during the offseason if pitcher, Francisco Liriano was available for a trade in an attempt to help solve the big question mark that is the Yankees starting rotation.

Well, the Twins obviously weren't interested and had no desire to trade Liriano, who is considered the team's ace. However, while he adds veteran experience, I'm not quite convinced that this would have been the right move for the Yankees had they made a move for Liriano. He has shown flashes of brilliance, but he's also been shown to struggle and has spent a considerable amount of his career on the disabled list.

Liriano had a phenomenal breakout rookie season as a starter in 2006 going 12-3 with a 2.16 ERA after a brief stint in the bullpen in 2005 into the 2006 season, but was sidelined with injury in August in which he missed about a month and finished the season, but later required Tommy John surgery in November and missed the 2007 season. In 2008 it was an up and down year for him as he bounced back and forth between the Twins' Triple-A minor league club and the majors. He started his major league season 0-3 with an 11.32 ERA in just a few weeks between April 13th and the 25th, when he was sent back down to the minors. After 10-0 in 11 starts with an ERA of 2.67 in the minors he was called back up to the Twins on August 1, 2008 and finished the year strong showing some of that brilliance and finishing the year with a record of 6-4 and an ERA of 3.91. His 2009 pitching was mediocre with a record of 5-13 and an ERA of 5.80. 2010 was a bounce back year where he went 14-10 with an ERA of 3.62 while posting good numbers in home runs allowed, walks, and strikeouts.

In order to consider a pitcher an ace of the staff I think you need more consistency than Liriano has shown thus far, which is also why I don't think the Yankees wouldn't have benefited too greatly if they acquired him. It's still early in his career and he's got plenty of time to prove me wrong and I wouldn't be surprised if he does, but right now nothing is a sure thing with him.

*Phrase quoted from http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/news/story?id=6169516