Almost 365 days ago, on August 10 of last year, the Twins lost the best young pitcher in baseball, Francisco Liriano.  The 22-year-old left hander made the American League All-Star team as a rookie, producing a 10-1 record with a 1.83 ERA.  On August 10 he was placed on the disabled list with a strained ulnar collateral ligament on his left elbow.  He came back to pitch two innings in a September game and finished the season 12-3 with a 2.16 ERA. 

Then came major surgery in November on his left elbow and a long rehab process that likely will end with Liriano able to pitch next season.  Liriano, who will be 24 in October, is living in Fort Myers, Florida and throwing as part of his rehabilitation.

 “I hear he’s ahead of the game,” Twins pitching coach Rick Anderson told Sports Headliners last month. “He’s headed where he should be in his rehab, but again we’re not going to push him to even think about this year. …We’re fully expecting him to be ready come spring training.” 

The Twins have promising young starters in Matt Garza, 23, Scott Baker, 25, and Boof Bonser, 25.  Kevin Slowey,23, now back in Rochester, can be included in that group.  Plus, the Twins have a franchise pitcher in Johan Santana and another veteran Carlos Silva (both 28).  Presuming Liriano is ready next March, there will be sharp competition for jobs in the five-man starting rotation.

Does Liriano receive preferred consideration for a spot based on 2006? “Absolutely, it’s probably his to lose,” Anderson said.  “As long as he’s healthy, I am sure it’s a pretty good assumption that he should be in there.”

Anderson said he will be looking less at stats and more at form when Liriano is in spring training.  He will want to see how his second potential franchise pitcher is throwing and how he feels. 

Confusion:  At least one radio station stumbled earlier this week when rumors of the Garnett trade surfaced and on-air talent speculated about KG having to rejoin Wally Szczerbiak  in Boston.  Szczerbiak was traded to Seattle in June.

Twins pitching coach Rick Anderson was asked whether divisiveness develops in the clubhouse when a team’s pitching is good but hitting poor, or vice versa.  “You know, you never point fingers in here. If someone were to point a finger, they probably wouldn’t be here long because that’s not the way we work. …”

Senior Gopher receiver Ernie Wheelright has teased fans with his big play ability but has too often made mistakes including dropped passes.  “He’s had a great summer and worked extremely hard,” Gopher football coach Tim Brewster said. 

New Twins third baseman Brian Buscher got his first major league hit last week.  He told listeners on WCCO Radio’s sports huddle on Sunday he has the ball and will give it to his parents for a Christmas present. 

Twins reliever Joe Nathan has made good on all 10 of his most recent save opportunities.  For the season he is 24-26.

Fast start? A successful Vikings season probably means winning both (or at least one) of the team’s first two regular season games.  Playing Atlanta at home without Michael Vick is appealing and at Detroit is another solid opportunity, although the Lions probably figure they can beat the Vikings with extraordinary rookie wide receiver Calvin Johnson and the optimism of playing in their home opener. 

Former Gopher Marion Barber III could emerge as a Dallas Cowboys starter this season for the first time in his three year pro career.  That storyline could be decided about the time the Cowboys play in Minneapolis on August 30 in the Vikings last regular pre-season game.  Barber is known for his physical running and blocking.

A recent Sports Illustrated article quoted a baseball executive as saying there are only four major league owners who really want to win, the owners of the Yankees, Red Sox, Tigers and Angels. The suggestion was these four separate themselves from the other owners because they have a willingness to spend money. 

Twins president Dave St. Peter said owner Carl Pohlad wants to win, too, and has the record to prove it.  “I don’t think there’s any question that Carl Pohlad wants to win,” St. Peter said.  “When you look what his track record is as a middle market owner, a team that has played with small market revenues (producing) two world championships, six division titles.  I think the track record speaks for itself.  When push comes to shove, the dollars have been there for us to improve our baseball team. …”   

St. Peter said the recent signing of Seattle center fielder Ichiro Suzuki to a five year contract that will pay him $90 million and talk that it may cost the Twins $20 million per season to keep pitcher Johan Santana has certainly caught the franchise’s attention.  “Clearly the economics of the game are always concerning for any team whether you’re (in) a big market, or a medium market, or a small market,” St. Peter said.  “We look at those contracts and they certainly set the pace for the coming off-season.  At the same time we try not to get distracted by those things.  Every situation is a little bit different.  Every player is a little bit different and every organization is a little bit different. So historically we believe we’ve been able to keep the guys that…were critical for us to keep, and we’ll make those decisions as we go forward.” 

Center fielder Torii Hunter is a free agent after this season and Santana has the same status after next.  St. Peter doesn’t expect Pohlad to be out front retaining the players.   “I would not expect ownership to take the lead role,” he said.  “That has not been their style. That really certainly hasn’t happened of late.  There’s some precedent for that, I guess, back with the (Kirby) Puckett contract back in 1992.  I certainly expect (general manager) Terry Ryan to play the lead on behalf of the Pohlads. …” 

Sooner or later the Twins have expiring contracts to deal with for several players, including Hunter, Santana, first baseman Justin Morneau and relief pitcher Joe Nathan.   How large a piece of the monetary pie will the Twins slice for them? “We’ll see,” St. Peter said.  “Obviously, as I’ve said before, there are going to be difficult choices to be made. This franchise has a proven track record of being able to make good baseball decisions and I am confident that we’ll make the right decisions.  It will take two to make these deals work. Even if the team wants to do it, obviously we’re going to need the player and their agent to come to the table and make these things go.  I think there is an appropriate time for those discussions and I don’t know that it is now.  I think it’s in the off season. …That’s been our policy and it’s served us well and I think it will continue to serve us well.”