The Minnesota Twins traded Francisco Liriano to the Chicago White Sox last summer in exchange for infielder Eduardo Escobar and left-hander Pedro Hernandez.

Many believe Minnesota has already won the trade, but general manager Terry Ryan isn't yet ready to declare a winner.

"I don't think I can say that right now," Ryan said. "It looks great on the surface, because Liriano probably wasn't coming back. He didn't come back (to Chicago). The two guys we got are about 23 (years old). One of them (started Saturday), and the other (was) playing in the field.

"But if they go south here in about 12 games, they're in Rochester and they never resurface, you're going to say, 'Well, you should have got more for Liriano. You didn't get anything.' So I suspect in August or so I'll be able to say, 'OK, these guys are guys that are probably going to be with us for a while.' Then you say it was a decent trade."

Chicago paid $2 million for a rental in Liriano who posted a 5.40 ERA with a lot of strikeouts, but also a lot of walks in 56 2/3 innings. The White Sox did not re-sign the left-hander.