I've been pretty critical of the Twins this offseason with some of the moves they made. I didn't mind that they let Torii Hunter go, but I was a little wary of sending Matt Garza to Tampa for Delmon Young. Granted, Young is a very talented young hitter and will help pick up some of the slack for Hunter's departure, but I'm not convinced giving away young pitching talent when you're about to lose Johan Santana is the smartest way to go about things.Then there is the whole Santana trade, which I felt the Twins didn't get nearly enough in return for. Especially when you see the package Seattle gave Baltimore for Erik Bedard. I've also been highly critical of the team re-signing Joe Nathan for so much money when they could have traded him for good young players, and could have even used some of that money to keep Johan around.
So when they do something right, like I believe they're doing by sending Francisco Liriano to the minors for a while, it's only fair that I give them credit for it.
I love Liriano, but I also fear he's not really ready to come back yet. I was worried that the Twins, who are now without Santana, Garza, and Carlos Silva, would rush Liriano back out of fear they'd fall out of the division race early, and Liriano would only end up getting hurt again.
So sending him to the minors is the safest path. He finished the spring very strong, but that doesn't mean his arm is completely ready for the big leagues yet. Letting him continue to build his arm strength in the minors for a few games will only help the Twins in the long run.
