According to Ken Rosenthal, Francisco Liriano is back in the fold:
Sources: #Pirates, Liriano have adjusted and finalized 2-year agreement. Liriano will assume risk due to injury to right (non-throwing) arm.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 21, 2013
If Liriano misses no time due to specific right arm injury, he still gets original $12.75M. First-year salary would reduce if he misses time
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 21, 2013
They agreed to a deal in December, only to have it fall through due to an injury. After the Bucs re-signed Jeff Karstens last week, it seemed as though Liriano would not be a Pirate in 2013.
He’s back in the fold, however, and it appears that he will still make the full $12.75 million as long as he does not miss any time because of his right arm injury. If the arm problem does force him to sit out, it sounds like he’ll get a reduced salary.
Rosenthal states that Liriano will assume risk due to his injury. However, the real issue is the Pirates assuming the high injury risk of Liriano. The starting rotation will most likely be structured like this:
1) A.J. Burnett
4) Francisco Liriano
As we’ve said time and time again, there are plenty of question marks here. McDonald is a wild card, and Karstens is often injured, similar to Liriano.
The Pirates have Jeff Locke and Kyle McPherson for insurance, plus Charlie Morton returning from Tommy John surgery in midseason. Top prospect Gerrit Cole could be up with the club at some point as well.
We originally liked the Liriano signing, but his injury problems and inconsistency may be too much to handle. It’ll be interesting to see how it works out. Pitchers and catchers report in three weeks.
Photo: Mike Stobe/Getty Images
