I'm trying to remember the media coverage back in the fall when Ryan replaced Smith very abruptly. I thought I read something that suggested Smith was let go by the Pohlad's because he didn't think the roster, as constructed then, could compete and wanted to go into rebuild mode. Ryan, on the other hand, held the philosophy that the roster could be competitive with the right quick fixes. Now, don't get me wrong, I had no confidence that Smith had the competence to blow up the roster and rebuild. However, did the Pohlads and Ryan make a costly error that may haunt this franchise and further delay a return to respectability?

From what it leaked out there, Smith got canned because he pushed back on the spending limits and wanted to spend more money than the Pohlads wanted him to spend. Opposite of rebuilding

That's the way I interpreted it as well -- that Smith wanted to keep payroll near or above 2011 amounts and the Pohlads weren't willing to do so.

I really thought it was Smith who didn't think rebuilding was necessary and that they would "be okay" with just a few additions & changes. I call that the "recapture 2010 glory philosophy".

I really don't see Ryan rebuilding either but he's doing it on the "spend 15% - 20% less" philosophy.

Thanks for the clarification, that explanation certainly makes more sense. One has to wonder then if spending an extra 15-20 million could've netted enough starting pitching to make this team a contender. (Did I even type that?)

Ryan would have said the team was going to be OK with quick fixes regardless of what he really thought. The Twins didn't want to declare they're rebuilding because it would hurt gate revenue.

I would hope that all of the fans screaming for Ryan to be fired are reading the comments here and understanding that any GM working for the Pohlads will be working with the same restraints we have now. Most people don't realize how lucky we are he came back.

My understanding of Smith's firing was that he thought 2011 was mostly about injuries and that we would be fine by getting people back to health and just tweaking things a little bit. Pretty much the opposite of rebuilding. I really don't get the arguments for firing Ryan. Everyone says he didn't do enough to address this or that, but with the restrictions that were put on him what more could he have done? There were too many poor decisions made while Ryan was away that left too many holes on this roster to fix them all in one offseason with the payroll restrictions put in place by ownership. People also argue that Ryan's last draft is why we don't have enough MLB ready talent at the AAA level. To that, I would say even the best GM can't get every draft right. It also doesn't help when the GM that replaces you trades away top prospects for marginal relief pitching (i.e. Ramos for Capps). I would also like to point out that Ryan didn't have control over how the players in his last draft were developed. Even if you draft exceptional talent, if the oversight of the farm system starts to erode under the new GM your prospects aren't going to develop properly. People also like to argue that Ryan has culpability for some of Smith's poor decisions because he one of Smith's advisers. I am sure Ryan gave advice when asked, but Smith's decisions were Smith's decisions. I don't think the Pohlad's would have fired Smith and replaced him with Ryan if Ryan was the driving force behind many of Smith's personnel decisions. That is enough of a rant about the Ryan issue. I don't think Ryan does everything perfect. But he does have a great track record as a GM/talent evaluator and given time I have faith that he can get the Twins back to being a model organization. It's just not going to happen over night and we need to accept that.

Terry Ryan didn't think this team should rebuild. If so, why sign washed up no-good vets like Marquis, Carroll and Capps to above market deals? And to give up a suppemental pick to sign Capps again shows that Ryan doesn't get it and he was "going for it" instead of rebuilding after a 99 loss year. Ryan's poor scouting has contributed to the poor minor league system as well.

Ryan has every reason to be fired just like Smith did but Terry is a cheap GM so he will keep his job. Terry's track record is great but it is obvious the game has passed him by and he will run this franchise further into the ground.

Awesome defense of Ryan and rip of Smith...does anyone think anything changed in the farm system in the 3 years Smith was in charge? And, it isn't Ryan's last draft. Three years, now, three years, name the legit prospects that have come up to the Twins and helped in the last three years.

As for Smith vs Ryan and what the difference of philosophy was, we don't really know what the disagreement was, from what I recall. It's all been conjecture.