Fantasy Baseball 2012: Is Francisco Liriano Worth the Headache?

I, like anybody whose been stressed at one point in their life have had a headache before—but none bigger than the ones concerning the Minnesota Twins hurler known as Francisco Liriano.

Liriano's career and typical season is full of more highs and lows than the ratings for Saturday Night Live the past few seasons. This guy finished 11th in the American League Cy Young voting just two seasons ago, and was an All-Star selection his first full season in the MLB.

He's also the same guy who recorded 5.00-plus ERAs in 2009 and 2011. Well, it appears the bad Liriano is the one starting off the new 2012 season, as the Twins starter currently holds an 11.25 ERA in two starts.

Liriano has been straight-up shelled by the Baltimore Orioles and Los Angeles Angels (of Anaheim) to start the year, and though it's always hard to give up on a guy this early in fantasy, I think it's time to drop this Twin like a bad habit.

If history is any indication, then you'll want to get rid of the southpaw hurler before the end of April. At the end of 2011's first full month of the season, Liriano held an ERA of over nine, with only one start where he made it into the sixth inning.

The thing about Liriano that always lures in his apologists or managers looking for sleepers is his huge upside. We've all seen the Liriano who can go out and strike out eight batters in just six innings of work, but he has just as good a chance as pulling that feat off as he is to give up 10 runs through four innings every time out.

The worst part about him is that, unlike the Mark Teixerias and Mark Reynoldses of the world, he doesn't have huge hot streaks that make him tolerable through the bad stretches. As Forrest Gump would say, he's like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get every time he takes the mound.

If you're a manager with a deep and formidable pitching staff—something similar to having Roy Halladay and Yovani Gallardo as your 1-2 punch—then I don't have a problem with you stashing Liriano through April and seeing if he gets his head on straight. But if he's someone you're relying on in a weekly basis, then send him to the free-agent pool...like, now.

He's got huge upside, sure, he always will. Again, the problem for Liriano's owners is the constant roller-coaster ride of sheer dominance and equally brutal shellackings. The 28-year-old is what he is at this point in his career. He's a guy who can pay off big time for the guys who gambled on him, or he can single-handedly ruin a team's chances to win their league's walk or ERA category.

The Twins aren't full of great fantasy prospects for 2012, and while Liriano is one of the best at luring in fantasy owners, just do yourself a favor and pass on his persuasions this time.