Francisco Liriano deal 'still on track,' according to report

Jon Heyman writes that the Francisco Liriano deal is "still on track," although the physical will wait until after his broken non-pitching arm gets better. It certainly sounds like Liriano will wind up being a Pirate one way or another, although his agent or the Pirates or someone seems determined to make sure we don't care anymore whenever it finally happens. In fairness to Liriano's agent, the Jason Grilli deal was absurdly drawn-out too, but in fairness to the Pirates, Liriano did break his arm. And in fairness to both, the swirling rumors about Liriano's impending deal with the Bucs probably have as much to do with the 24-hour news cycle as with any of the principals involved. Still, an advertising professor could probably teach a lesson about how not to unveil a new product by telling her students about the Liriano deal.

In any case, if Heyman is right, then the rumored Jonathan Sanchez deal (which, by the way, doesn't appear to be done yet either) was probably just a red herring. I'm guessing the real issue won't be whether Liriano signs, it will be his health.