I really don't care one way or the other, but it makes no sense to fire a tried and proven manager. I saw a rumor that King Theo may have Gardy and Girardi on a short list.

So he's now semi-officially the only non-expansion manager besides TK in the past thirty years to return for another year after three consecutive 90 loss seasons.

Put another way, since Gardenhire, to put it hyper-politely, lacks TK's postseason success, the front office is admitting something approximating this:

It took what was a contending core at the end of the past decade, and added tens of millions to the available payroll budget with new stadium revenue.

With those resources, they built a major league roster so dreadfully bad that the last manager to get a free pass for so many losses was managing a historically awful expansion franchise.

That's Ryan's admission with the resigning of Gardenhire. The Twins' MLB talent level the past three seasons has stood at the level of a really, really bad expansion team.

That could be, or it could be after only 22 months back from semi-retirement, Ryan is admitting the rebuild isn't done, and he prefers to have a tried and proven manager to lead our beloved Twins back to past glories.

Would love for Ryan to comment on this. Hope that Mackey or some other columnist gets to ask him about this apparent "slip" of the plans for 2014.

This just seems like bad business. Setting aside the team's dismal record, the players have seemed almost entirely unresponsive to coaching this year, despite claims that they like him as manager. To give Gardy an extension now seems like a reward for a job poorly done. Of course, "bad business" has become a hallmark of this organization in the last few years. Batting practice tickets, anyone?

Would love for Ryan to comment on this. Hope that Mackey or some other columnist gets to ask him about this apparent "slip" of the plans for 2014.This just seems like bad business. Setting aside the team's dismal record, the players have seemed almost entirely unresponsive to coaching this year, despite claims that they like him as manager. To give Gardy an extension now seems like a reward for a job poorly done. Of course, "bad business" has become a hallmark of this organization in the last few years. Batting practice tickets, anyone?

Setting aside the team's dismal record, the players have seemed almost entirely unresponsive to coaching this year, despite claims that they like him as manager.

I don't know how many times I've got to beat it into these guys' heads seems to be Gardenhire's most common lament. So yeah, he's lost the clubhouse. Hard to get that back once you've lost it.

I think Gardenhire would be perfect for the Cubs. Then both managerial and Cubs' trends could continue without pause.

Gardenhire for 2014 is a mistake. For beyond. A greater mistake. He is a mistaken manager--to put it nicely.

I also have read the same comments about the players not responding. I am a Gardy supporter, but feel a new voice is needed.

I agree with beckmt. I'm indifferent in regards to Gardy as a manager (I do love his hat kicking rants, though), but I feel that if the club is going to be bringing in new/young guys and they're trying to instill a new attitude...then a new manager is a good way to do just that. It's not that I don't think Gardy could do a decent job. It's a necessary statement to the team, the staff, and the fans that things are going to change. And if he stays...the roster just becomes another one of Gardy's teams. Bring on a new era of Twins baseball.

That could be, or it could be after only 22 months back from semi-retirement, Ryan is admitting the rebuild isn't done, and he prefers to have a tried and proven manager to lead our beloved Twins back to past glories.

OK, second time you've said that. Define "tried and proven."

There's a lot of negativity directed at Gardy, which I understand, because people need someone to blame for three dreadful seasons. However, if we're honest, it wouldn't matter if Joe Madden, Tony La Russa or Casey Stengel, brought back from the grave, were the Twins' manager during the past three seasons. The results wouldn't be much different. No manager or coach on the planet can turn Liam Hendriks into Justin Verlander or Trevor Plouffe into Evan Longoria. A manager can only work with what he has and Gardy has been given nothing to work with, especially in terms of pitching. Despite the Twins' horrendous play, Gardy remains one of the most respected managers in the game, among his peers. His hands have been tied for three seasons and everyone understands that. Everyone also understands that Gardy led some marginal teams to the playoffs in the 2000s, which I think is much more revealing about his managerial skills than three seasons with no talent. I'd like to see him stay, because given some talent, I think he can lead the Twins back to the playoffs.

I can agree with much of what you say, until this:

Everyone also understands that Gardy led some marginal teams to the playoffs in the 2000s, .

I have to take exception to this statement. Here is what bothers me and a lot of people about the current "Gardy has nothing to work with" train of thought -- the flipside of the "no manager can win with this team" argument is "no manager could have lost with the earlier teams" and if we had a WS Ring in there, I think this whole debate would look different.

Here is what we had in the 2000s, not to mention some weak AL Central competition most of those years:

- Joe Mauer, 3 batting titles and 3 Gold Gloves

- Justin Morneau, MVP 2006,

- Mauer, MVP 2009

- Johan Santana, Cy Young 2004, 2006,

- Joe Nathan 260 saves in 7 seasons

- Torii Hunter, perennial gold glove

Ex-Twin Honor roll:

- Matt Garza, Delmon Young, ALCS MVPs

- RA Dickey, 2012 Cy Young

Michael Cuddyer, 2013 NL batting champ (let's hope!)