In a stunning late-night move, the Minnesota Twins sent left-handed starter Francisco Liriano to the Chicago White Sox on Saturday in exchange for a pair of prospects according to the league's official Twitter account:

Liriano was scheduled to pitch Sunday's series finale with the Indians, but will now head to Chicago to join his new first-place squad and greet his teammates. While it was essentially assumed to be only a matter of time before Liriano was dealt, it's interesting that the Twins chose to trade him to a rival opponent, and a mere hours before he was scheduled to have a 'showcase' start for interested teams.

As far as the players the Twins picked up in the deal, 23-year-old infielder Eduardo Escobar is obvious prize as a slick-fielding shortstop with a quick bat. Tabbed as a top ten prospect in the White Sox organization in each of the past two years, Escobar grades out as a Gold Glove-caliber defender at short with above-average speed on the basepaths.

Also included in the deal is left-handed reliever Pedro Hernandez, who did not impress White Sox scouts by getting demolished for eight runs in his big-league debut earlier in the month. While Hernandez does not come with the pedigree that Escobar does, he was acquired by Chicago in the offseason as a sizable chunk of the Carlos Quintin deal and figures to play a significant role in the Twins' pitching staff in future seasons.

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