Not trying to be too snarky here. Just wondering who people think would be a good replacement for TR? I honestly have no idea on who would be better if anyone. I just read all the comments about how bad he is and thought that many people would have a plan around that. (The anyone would be better line is a lame retort. You could have used that for most of the Twins pitching staff, but someone has to take the ball and pitch. I can say Sam Denudo is awful, but who do I say takes his place. Clayton Kershaw or Liam Hendricks. There is where the comments hit the fan.)

So who would be your Dream Date General manager for the Minnesota Twins to replace that old balding guy. (The guy from twilight is kind of dreamy, wonder if he knows what pitch to contact means...ummm.)

Gleeman and the Geek, of course! They solve all the Twins' problems within the time it takes to do a podcast every Sunday, so imagine what they could do if they shared the GM gig on a full time basis!

Of course, I'm not sure they'd both live through the first month of sharing the job.

How would Gleeman see a minor league afflilate? Unless the Twins place all their affliates in St. Louis Park, Richfield, Bloomington and maybe Robbinsdale. Spring training would be a bitch in Apple Valley and that is across the river, not sure he would travel lthat far.

That really is the point, isn't it. Some of us don't like Terry Ryan (not me, I like him), but none of them can say anyone that is available that would be better than Ryan.

Andrew Friedman General Manager Tampa Rays (not available)

How would Gleeman see a minor league afflilate? Unless the Twins place all their affliates in St. Louis Park, Richfield, Bloomington and maybe Robbinsdale. Spring training would be a bitch in Apple Valley and that is across the river, not sure he would travel lthat far.

Good point. Obviously the Geek would get all the travel assignments. Not sure how TVOR would feel about that. Then again, she might like the idea.

I don't have a name, but here's what I'd like to see:

Somebody's who has had MLB experience.

Somebody who is competitive nearly to an extreme.

Somebody who cares more about winning than phony perceptions of loyalty.

Somebody who detests the phrase "what my gut tells me."

Somebody who hasn't spend a day with the Twins organization in the last decade, at least.

Somebody who seeks out and promotes smart people who get results.

TR is by all accounts a good man, but I wouldn't say he fits any of the criteria above.

Terry Ryan is my man.

I don't have a name' date=' but here's what I'd like to see:

 

Somebody's who has had MLB experience.

Somebody who is competitive nearly to an extreme.

Somebody who cares more about winning than phony perceptions of loyalty.

Somebody who detests the phrase "what my gut tells me."

Somebody who hasn't spend a day with the Twins organization in the last decade, at least.

Somebody who seeks out and promotes smart people who get results.

 

TR is by all accounts a good man, but I wouldn't say he fits any of the criteria above.[/quote']

 

Thanks for posting some requirements. I find that helpful in seeing how people percieve the job of GM.

 

I agree with 1-3-6. (Though I find 1 and 6 to be givens for anyone in a management position.) In particularI agree with the loyalty piece. Loyalty is great in a Boy Scout, but in American business it means squat now. (Sadness.) And lets be honest this is a business and looking at these requirements I believe you think it should be run as one and not as a "ball team".

 

2- How I take this, and correct me if I am wrong, is that you would prefer someone focused solely on winning at the Major League Level rigth now and will make any and all accomadations to do so becasue of the urge to win. Now I prefer someone not driven by emotions, almost dispassionate in public and able to make hard calls with a focus instead of being so overwhelmed by the urge to win now and the future be damned. I think a guy who runs the Yankees or another team with big pockets, and even with Target Field the Twins are not in that League of Extraordinary Spenders, can afford to look at only the short term. Is that TR? Probably but there is a difference between dispassionate and comatose. Sometimes TR comes across as the later which is disheartening.

 

4- I like someone not afraid to go with his instinct. Get the facts, look at the numbers and balance the options. But in the end it comes down to one person putting themselves out there to make a call. Now if you are talking being more Sabermetrics based then the Traditional Scouting school, I understand the frustration. Once again I prefer balance. I hope the Twins are using advanced metrics more and more, but you still need people on the ground eyeing the player and looking for flaws or beyond the numbers for plus factors. (I can look at Sano and see all his errors and say he is a bust at 3rd and should be made a 19 year old DH in Low A ball, but then I see him and see a good athlete growing into his body and needing to work harder on some defensive aspects.)

 

5- Once again I understand the frustration with the Twins organization in 2012. Two years of awful play and 2013 is not looking much better. But this is also the group that gave the fans of Minnesota the most sustained success of any team since the Vikings of the late 60's and 70's. Like that group the Twins could not capture the ultimate goal, but unlike the revered Vikings two years after that run people are ready to cast that aside and block it out of their mind. When the Vikings started their downfall in the late 70's Bud Grant was still seen as a icon and god like man. TR and Gardy have been for the most part left alone by calmer heads, but due to the change in media from the 70's to today, we get a lot more opinions from people who just get a kick out of seeing their words cast out for the world to digest or words and half thoughts spewed forth from talk radio. (That includes the not so humble starter of this thread I guess.) They need to turn it around, I bet they know it. But if there was a uber talented exec within the organization I would not cast him out from the womb just to make a point. Is there one? No idea. But you need to look at all possibilities and not shut down a avenue out of anger or disgust.

 

Again thanks for participating!

dave duncan and his special advisor tony l.

I want to see how this offseason goes because we all know that TR is a very good baseball guy. I want to see this org. pick a direction either they find a way to trade assets for what they're looking for or they attempt to spend good money on marquee not Marquis pitching if they think this lineup can compete. Besides if the Twins were to replace they would probably have to hire some firm like colleges do for a coaching vacancy because they are probably not familiar with anyone outside of their own org. , only half joking on that.

I want to see how this offseason goes because we all know that TR is a very good baseball guy. I want to see this org. pick a direction either they find a way to trade assets for what they're looking for or they attempt to spend good money on marquee not Marquis pitching if they think this lineup can compete. Besides if the Twins were to replace they would probably have to hire some firm like colleges do for a coaching vacancy because they are probably not familiar with anyone outside of their own org. , only half joking on that.

You bring up a good point. I don't know if MLB clubs use executive search firms. Most MLB Teams are owned by strong minded men who probably believe they know better then anyone else unlike colleges and universities that are more layered in their structure and have multiple levels of signing off.I don't think I ever have heard of a club using a outside group to help, sure it must happen sometimes and at some level. But you look at guys who own baseball teams and there are not a lot of delagators in that group, with the possible exception of the Minnesota Twins.

I will need to pay closer attention next GM opening this October or November.

Kenny Williams....

...wait.... no, not him.

Andrew Friedman, but only on the condition that he has full control over scouting/development. He oddly doesn't work under a contract, you'd think at some point a team would come along and make him an offer he can't refuse. If the GM's salary was a big deal to St. Peter, I'd have no problem if it came out of the expected payroll. A good GM is better than an extra $5M or so to spend on the free agent market if you ask me.

Friedman is a good choice I think. Solid cred. Has been in a top flight org for years now. Stuck in a awful place with a good team. He might actually look for a way out. I would think a bigger market then Minnesota would come calling before then and maybe even after he would arrive on the shores of the big muddy however, he would go all Andy MacPhail on us. Not sure about full control, that tends not to work in other sports. Football and basketball coaches with"full" control are a issue sooner or later. (See Green, Denny.) Nice call nicksaviking.

Kenny Williams....

 

...wait.... no' date=' not him.[/quote']

 

You meant Barry Williams, no Paul Wiiliams ah...Wendy Williams. Yeah thats the ticket. One thing Kenny would get us is trades, if people want trades Kenny is the man.

Thank you for posting this, MWL, and your comments in reply. When I have a bit more time, I'll try to comment more, but I REALLY want to push back on this comment, because I feel it's near the core of the organization's problems:

"But this is also the group that gave the fans of Minnesota the most sustained success of any team since the Vikings of the late 60's and 70's."

I don't get this at all. Central Division titles in a VERY weak division shouldn't be the yardstick for success. The Twins record against the AL East during this "successful run" was very poor. If the Twins had played in another division, we'd be in a postseason drought the likes of which only Pittsburgh and Baltimore have shared, I think. And, at least, we'd all be more honest about the team's glaring shortcomings in both philosophy and product.

You bring up a good point. I don't know if MLB clubs use executive search firms. Most MLB Teams are owned by strong minded men who probably believe they know better then anyone else unlike colleges and universities that are more layered in their structure and have multiple levels of signing off.I don't think I ever have heard of a club using a outside group to help' date=' sure it must happen sometimes and at some level. But you look at guys who own baseball teams and there are not a lot of delagators in that group, with the possible exception of the Minnesota Twins.

 

I will need to pay closer attention next GM opening this October or November.[/quote']

 

 

Sorry, didn't mean for that to sound serious. I was trying to be a smart donkey:)

The Blue Jays, Rangers, Braves, and Rays organizations would be good to scour over.

Thank you for posting this' date=' MWL, and your comments in reply. When I have a bit more time, I'll try to comment more, but I REALLY want to push back on this comment, because I feel it's near the core of the organization's problems:

 

"But this is also the group that gave the fans of Minnesota the most sustained success of any team since the Vikings of the late 60's and 70's."

 

I don't get this at all. Central Division titles in a VERY weak division shouldn't be the yardstick for success. The Twins record against the AL East during this "successful run" was very poor. If the Twins had played in another division, we'd be in a postseason drought the likes of which only Pittsburgh and Baltimore have shared, I think. And, at least, we'd all be more honest about the team's glaring shortcomings in both philosophy and product.

I guess it depends on your expectations. Yours are higher then mine it sounds like. The statement speaks to a prolonged period of success being defined be a winning record, playoff appearances and just plain old relavancy. I am not looking at Competion. That means little in this comparison.. I understand that is a sticking point for you but I could then argue that the Twins World Series wins were less then stellar due to the level of competition they faced in the Series, the Cardinals were a good team but banged up and missing key people and the Braves were also not the percieved best team in the National League. Now the Twins did have to beat a pretty good Tigers Team in 87 and a decent Blue Jays team in 91, but the 87 team did benefit from playing in the Western Division which did not have the best teams in the league. Arguements like this can go on and I don't have time or energy to put into taking them to their ultimate conclusion.

My point was in terms of overall wins, playoff appearances the Twins in years 2002 to 2010 had a string of success only equaled or surpassed by the Viking Teams of the late 1960's and 1970's. The 1964 to 1973 Twins were probably a better if I broke it down and less chances for Playoff appearances. But like the Twins of this era they too had their boogieman, only it was the Orioles and not the Yankees. Did the North Stars have such a period, no. Like the late 80's and early 90's Twins they had some excellent teams for shorter periods, could not sustain. The Timberwolves? Wild? Gopher football? How far do we go down the food chain here? Gopher Hockey and the Lynx?

I will also say why the level of competition thing is not important to me. In 15 to 20 years I hope I will not dwell on the fact that this team didn't beat the Yankees, that Koskies ball doesn't jump into the stands, that one umpire makes the correct call on a "Fair" ball down the line. I did that in my 20's and 30's with the Vikings. (Drew Pearson did push off by the way.) It is a waste of emotion and just negative energy. I want to remember that magical run when the Twins overtook the Tigers, now you can say the Tigers collapsed and they did but I don't care as that is a Tigers fan issue and not mine, I want to soak in the excitement of game 163 against the Tigers and watch Go-Go run. The memories I will carry will be Joe Mauer on one of his hot streaks htting the crap out of everything, Santana looking unhittable with 2 and what should have been 3 Cy Young years, young Frankie dueling Roger Clemens, Joe Nathan and his horse blow racking up saves, Morneau's sheer power and the one year of Thome. That this was not done against the Yankees of 1927 or the Gashouse Gang or Big red Machine doesn't make a difference to me. It was still fun and enjoyable.

That doesn't mean I don't get disappointed when something stupid happens, Ramos for Capps really or say BJ Garbe. It also does not mean I want them to suck this bad, it is annoying to be this awful. But I won't get worked up as it is only a baseball game played by millionaires for the enrichment of billionaires and has no real bearing on my daily life. Many times I get the feeling in reading the pages that too many people get all frothy about something Gardy did or didn't do, or Mauers lack of power or whatever. I don't, this is entertainment like a movie or American Idol. I used to get worked up about my cars too, but I now realize that all a car is is transportation. It isnot a extension of myself, just like the Twins are not really a part of my being.

Just my outlook. If you choose to get all into the parts about level competiton, dive into the stats, live in the clubhouse intrigue and focus on how they just are not a high caliber team and they don't measure up to the Yankees or the Red Sox, I respect that. If that is where you enjoy baseball, have at it and I hope it makes you happy, truely I do. It doesn't work for me. I have enough S*#t in my life. I love minor league and town ball because it is simple and not full of all the BS surrounding the major leagues, it is baseball at it's best in many ways. I know watching the Snappers or E-Twins pales in comparision to the skill of the majors, but man it is just fun. Reminds me of how it was when I played with my friends 25 years ago. I am trying not to go all Field of Dreams here, and my rant is long ...my bad.