Spring Training T-Minus 2 Days! Let the rotation shuffle begin...

Soon the end of the void in my life that is the off season will come to an end. Hell yes.

But, as we all know, the start of spring training means the answer of some pretty important questions...

WHO THE HELL IS IN THE ROTATION?

Here are my picks

1. The prodigy is back, baby. As in the return of Francisco Liriano. WHOLE LOTTA! It seems as though with the "trade-that-must-not-be-named" (that's my new name for the Santana trade, even though I'm strangely optimistic about it... which is completely out of character for me...) Liriano is more than prepared to step into the gaping hole left by Santana. The man went 12-3 with an ERA of 2.16! That, my friend, is what I call starter for opening day material. I know the whole surgery thing might put him in contention for the starting rotation for the Red Wings, but I fully believe that the trade-that-must-not-be-named lit a fire under this kid. If Santana was still here, I feel like the NEED for Liriano wasn't immediate but now... it is. We need a dominating force on the mound and, honestly, a batter is not going to be intimidated by Baker or Boof... it's just not going to happen. Liriano has been throwing at full velocity and has been working other pitches to lay off his slider and stay healthy. Minnesota, meet your new ace.
2. In my last post I said that the Twins need to find experience. They must have finally woken up and started taking my advice (although starting this back before Thanksgiving would have been a better time... then we might still have Hunter and Santana) because they signed Livan Hernandez. While I can't pretend to know that much about him, I'm all down for 11 years of experience with a career record of 134-128, a world series ring (which he was named MVP) and a career ERA of 4.25. Hey, I'll take it any day.
3. What can I say about Scott Baker... he improved ten-fold this last season. 9-9 with an ERA of 4.20 isn't half bad considering in 2006 he was 5-8 with an ERA of 6.37. Not only have his stats improved but the kid (that's right I said kid, when I look older than someone I have no problem calling them kid) had a no-no going into the 9th! Can someone say improvement? Because I can. He makes a strong #3 in the rotation and I think he'll be one of the stabilizers in this season.
4. Kevin Slowey, the new Brad Radke. He's an innings eater and showed that he doesn't crack under pressure. In his rookie season went 4-1 in a total of 13 games both as a starter and out of the pen. In a year or two, he's gonna be a strong presence in the rotation. On a side note, he speaks like 4 languages. I love this man, enough said.
5. The fifth starter could be anyone's guess, my hope is that one of the pitchers that we got from the Mets so that all the naysayers of the trade-that-must-not-be-named can eat their words. Right now though, I'm pretty sure that the fifth spot is going to be shared quite often by those traveling up and down from triple A. Right now I feel that Nick Blackbrun or Glen Perkins might be getting the call to start the season there, but I bet anything that we'll be seeing Philip Humber and Brian Bass too this season.

*Note that no where in my picks for the starting rotation will you find Boof Bonser (although I did mention him, but that was just to make fun of him). I refuse to accept his presence on the team. I'm just now totally ignoring him because for some reason the Twins feel the need to keep him around. I don't know why...

SPRING TRAINING! YES!