"The Twins avoided arbitration with lefthanders Francisco Liriano and Glen Perkins and exchanged figures with infielder Alexi Casilla on Tuesday.

Liriano, who made $4.3 million last season, will make $5.5 million in 2012. That's right, he gets a raise after going 9-10 with a 5.09 ERA in 2011. Of the three arbitration-eligible Twins this offseason, Liriano has the most to gain by having a bounceback season in 2012.

He threw a no-hitter May 3 in Chicago, but the rest of his season perplexed the Twins. In 134 1/3 innings, he gave up 125 hits and walked 75 batters.

Liriano, 28, was supposed to take it easy during the offseason but instead has spent the past two weeks pitching for Escogido during the Dominican Winter League playoffs. He gave up three runs in just two-thirds of an inning on Monday.

If he can pitch more like he did in 2010 -- when he was 14-10 with a 3.62 ERA -- his value would skyrocket."