The Pioneer Press has a quote from Terry Ryan on Pedro Hernandez that tells you everything you need to know about the Twins' pitching philosophy:

"'He has enough stuff,' Ryan said. 'He's got a fastball, slider and a change. He throws a lot of strikes, which is good, but I'm not going to say he pitches to contact. No, he doesn't do that. He pitches to get outs.'"

I like that the Twins acquire pitchers who get outs, as opposed to all of those other organizations that waste time getting pitchers who do not get outs.

What is there to say? This seems like a meager haul for Liariano, even if he is a rental, in that at-best you have a utility infielder and a No. 4 or No. 5 starter. (And the Twins already have a breeding program in place in the greater Minnesota area for this anyway, creating cyborg-human hybrids that specialize in throwing 88 to 92 with nice change-ups and meh breaking balls. Oh, you thought Brad Radke retired? Don't be so naive.)

KW gets credit for making some lemonade this season. I thought he gave up a little too much for Myers, especially the young lefty Walters, but I hope his minor league talent evaluators know what they're doing. The Youk trade looks brilliant at this point and Liriano was clearly getting back into a decent groove. Kudos KW.

I think it's a fine move for the Sox. They hardly gave up anything and Liriano has a better performance history than what he's shown recently. At a minimum they've got a competent 5th starter or anti-lefty/longman bullpen piece. It's possible they'll get number 3-4 starter production outta him on the upside. I just dont see how this isnt a good move for them.

I hope there is enough time for Don Cooper to work his magic. Liriano is just the type of pitcher he has been successful at helping.

Does this deal reflect a new norm post CBA for pending free agents that are not superstars? The leverage seems to have been stripped away from the sellers (trade him or get nothing) and as acquisitions they are less attractive because they will not result in compensation picks.

Under the previous agreement, the sellers weighed the trade proposals against compensation picks (if they survived the offer of arbitration) and certain organizations valued the compensation picks that came along with acquiring pending free agents.

Is the pending free agent the new market inefficientcy?

Yes, Kevin, this is very analytical, but what of your mancrush on Eduardo Escobar? Are you elated that he might get more regular playing time to stage his ballet at Target Field while posting a .460 OPS? Saddened that he leaves the opportunity to generate no power at the Cell? What are the emotional consequences of an Eduardo Escobar trade to a prospect maven?

The Red Sox gave Youkalis to the Chisox. A vet utility infielder and a rapidly declining prospect is no price at all.
The Chisox sent the Twins 2 C+ prospects who are ML ready for an inconsistent pitcher.
These farm systems are "rated" by the farm-hands who could become major league regulars, but not stars. So whether your farm system has 5 C+ prospects of 50 of them, it won't show up in the ratings.
Williams has been using his C+ prospects. He's used some (Axelrod, Septimo) and has moved some. And if he had B+ and A prospects, he'd move them. To his credit, he actually uses his assets. Many timid GMs from supposedly "smart" systems, let them die on the vine.
Williams' best moves, however, have come off the waiver wire: De Aza and Quintero.

The most interesting part of this trade for me is it tells us where the Twins' system is at. Short summary - Escobar isn't good but the sad reality is they need him, or players like him.

Here's the long comment:
The Twins have been completely unable to produce middle infielders.

So for the last several years they have:
-traded for a series of 2nd division/utility type prospects (Casilla, Bartlett),
-acquired old-guy stopgaps (Carroll, Everett, Cabrera)
-taken an improbable flyer (Nishioka)
-and made one smart move (Hardy) that was then nullified when they dumped him.

If they had relied on their minor league system we'd still be running Matt Tolbert (shudder) out there.

Because of their payroll (Mauer etc) they aren't about to put real money into a free agent middle infielder (so, for example, they were not in on the Jose Reyes game, or even someone like Furcal)

They need cheap, cost-controlled middle infielders. Their minor league system has nobody even remotely close.

It's worth considering how badly - and why - the Twins have been so lousy at producing middle infielders. Who has actually come out of the Twins system in the last 6-8 years as a middle infielder? Tolbert? And...?

Escobar has the potential upside of a lousy-hitting, good-fielding 2nd division SS. And that's better than anything they have. It's also better than anything they could afford to acquire as a FA, except for someone like Carroll at the tail end of their career (Dozier will need to move to 2nd and he's no better than a 2nd division player anyway)

So, a cost-controlled SS who possibly projects to be, what, about the 20-30th best starting SS in the majors, is something the Twins don't have and they DO need.

The saddest part of this deal is that in fact they NEED Escobar.