I disagree pretty emphatically with this, TB. What is there about Liriano's 5+ BB/9 and 1.5 HR/9 that suggests he can help at all?Very true but I would still but I still would have taken Liriano and he probably would have cost much much less than Pomeranz did and has a better track record.
Liriano is conceding a .370 OBP and a .444 SLG. That's almost exactly Dustin Pedroia's season line.
Without hyperbole, I'd rather roll the dice with Buchholz' new/old arm slot. And I'd much rather see what Pomeranz can do over a longer stretch of starts. Whether the difference between those two is worth Espinoza is a question for the evaluators, I guess.