With the Minnesota Twins apparently willing to discuss trading left-hander Francisco Liriano at some point, the New York Yankees will keep tabs on the Cy Young contender, tweets Bob Nightengale of USA Today.

When the Twins would pull the trigger on such a trade is unknown, as they are expected to contend in the AL Central. Trading Liriano now would certainly hinder their chances, so it may be more likely that GM Bill Smith looks into dealing his ace after the season, or at least waits to see where his club stands in the race come July.

A match with the Yankees may be tough to come by, however, as their top prospect is a catcher, Jesus Montero, that would be blocked by Joe Mauer. Montero’s second position is likely first base, which is manned by Justin Morneau. The Yankees have pitching prospects, including Manny Banuelos and Dellin Betances, that could interest the Twins, but it’s unlikely they’d deal both of them and Liriano isn’t likely to be cheap.

The speculation regarding Liriano picked up earlier this month when the Star Tribune reported that the Twins were not looking to sign Liriano to a long-term deal.

How often if ever do teams straight up trade minor league players? Seems like it would make sense for the yanks and twins to swap an outfielder for a catcher.

Oy, that Capps trade looks bad now.

But Mike, we didn’t NEED Wilson Ramos, remember? We got the right to pay the super-valuable MATT CAPPS $7 million for a year in return for him. You may be unaware that Mr. Capps plays the super valuable position of CLOSER. Pardon me while I reach for the provided bag in the pocket on the seat back in front of me.

I hate to deal with the Yanquis, but man oh man would Montero look good here in the future splitting catching and DH duties with Mauer 75/25 or so. The light workload for Montero would minimize the exposure of his defense liabilities and preserve his knees, which are apparently a giant question mark defensive skills aside given what a giant dude he is — while giving him 25%-30% of the starts would obviously help Mauer’s longevity while maintaining the incredible win value the Twins get out of the catching position. Pipe dream, probably, but what if multiple outfield prospects catch fire? Just say it ain’t Liriano.

Someone else can figure out which of those teams are thin in the outfield and/or RH pitching.

Aaron, not sure how much you look across other organizations (maybe I should just pay BA….), but it seems that the minors as a whole are short of SS prospects. Are the Twins that far behind other organization in the MIF/SS?

OF and pitching still looks pretty deep. If I were the GM, I’d probably deal ptiching and OF prospects (not my only catching prospect) when I decided to make a deal.