Article: 2009: Bill Smith's Lasting Legacy

[Cody Christie]

In the annals of Twins history, the legacy of Bill Smith is never going to be thought of in a positive manner. There are many dubious moments from his tenure at the helm of the Twins organization. During his first year, he had to deal with Torii Hunter, the face of the franchise, leaving via free agency and multiple-Cy Young award winner Johan Santana wanting to be traded.Hunter would head to southern California on a big contract. Santana was dealt for what amounted to be a bag of balls. Deolis Guerra, Carlos Gomez, Philip Humber, and Kevin Mulvey were sent from New York to Minnesota. None of these players made a significant impact on the Twins big league roster even though Gomez has developed into one of the best players in the National League.

 

The other big deal at the beginning of Smith's tenure was between Minnesota and Tampa Bay. Hunter's departure left a hole in the lineup and the Twins hunted down former top draft pick Delmon Young. It cost the Twins a hefty price in the form of Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett, who helped Tampa win the 2008 American League pennant.

 

Even though these two trades have come to epitomize some of Smith's poor skills as general manager, the Twins are starting to see some positives from the Smith era.

 

Smith's second MLB draft as general manager took place in June 2009. The Twins had the 22nd pick in the first round and used it to select college pitcher Kyle Gibson--Mike Trout was taken three picks later but a ton of other team's passed over him as well. Gibson has developed into a nice asset at the major league level and there's hope that new pitching coach Neil Allen will be able to help Gibson refine his change-up.

 

Minnesota's biggest steal in the draft might have been their eighth-round pick a college shortstop by the name of Brian Dozier. Dozier has turned himself into one of the best second baseman in the American League and the Twins are committed to him being a cornerstone as the team tries to rebuild. According to Baseball Reference, Dozier has been worth more WAR than all but two first round picks (Trout and Stephen Strasburg).

 

Drafting Dozier and Gibson weren't the only major additions during that calendar year. Minnesota was active on the international market, signing Miguel Sano ($3.15 million), Jorge Polanco ($750,000), and Max Kepler ($775,000). Each one of these players has found his way onto top prospect lists and all three could end up being significant contributors at the big league level.

 

Sano has been highly thought of since signing with the Twins and he should make his major league debut this season. He's one of the best power-hitting prospects in the minor leagues and the Twins are counting on him to make a significant impact in the coming years.

 

Polanco continues to shine on the defensive side of the ball while showing he could have the skills to stick at shortstop for the long run. His offensive numbers continue to improve and last season he became the youngest player since Joe Mauer to debut with the Twins.

 

Kepler still has a lot of potential and Minnesota has been patiently waiting for him to have a breakout season. He's getting closer to the higher minors and he's already on the 40-man roster. If everything breaks right, he could turn into a very good everyday player with a wide-ranging skill set.

 

 

Reflecting back on the Bill Smith years can be kind of depressing. Besides the moves mentioned above, there was the JJ Hardy trade(s), the Matt Capps deal, and the signing of Tsuyoshi Nishioka. It's starting to look more and more like his additions to the minor leagues during the 2009 season might provide a little light at the end of a very dark tunnel.

 

For more from Cody Christie make sure to follow him on Twitter @NoDakTwinsFan and to read his other work at http://www.NoDakTwinsFan.com

 

Click here to view the article

[Otto von Ballpark]

2009 was definitely the best year of Smith's tenure, I'd say.  His biggest screw-up that year was probably dumping Breslow for Sean Henn.  (Signing Mauer *before* his MVP season probably would have been wise too, if that was an option.)

 

Otherwise, in 2009 Smith added Joe Crede, Orlando Cabrera, and Carl Pavano for very little cost, in addition to the amateur signings you mention.  Then he also got Hardy (albeit costing Gomez), Hudson, and Thome in the 2009-2010 offseason.  TR was rarely that aggressive in filling holes, and I think it held us back some years.

 

Record-wise, 2008 and 2010 were similar to 2009, but Smith just bleeded us of too much talent in those two years, setting up the 2011 collapse.

[bird]

Billy Smith gets too much blame and too much credit. I know, he was the GM, but:

 

1. Smith did not render a single opinion about who should be drafted. For all practical purposes he had nothing to do with the draft results.

 

2. There were some colossally bad trades during his tenure, but let's keep in mind he probably got a bit of advice on those moves and shoulders partial blame, not all.

 

3. My understanding is that the expanded international budget was influenced by MacPhail, Jim Pohlad, and Bill Smith more than anyone because they had Carl Pohlad's ear prior to and at the time Carl finally capitulated. Smith gets way way way too much credit for the Sano signing. Others were heavily involved in the negotiations. But I think he deserves credit for a lot of the good things in the transformation of the Twin's international scouting and development infrastructure that go unnoticed.

 

4. Unfortunately for Smith, the most lasting and damaging aspect of his tenure are those trades. The consensus is they deepened the trough and lengthened the cyclical recovery time.

 

5. When his bosses look back at Smith's entire body of work, it will be on balance hugely positive, primarily because of his contributions internationally and in Fort Meyers, in my opinion.

[Mike Sixel]

I agree with bw.....Smith gets too much blame.

 

If a team is the result of the 4-5 years of drafts before that year....well, those teams were bad because the minors did not product players, frankly.

 

All the pundits that used to work in FO say this:

 

GMs should barely be judged on drafts, since the scouting director leads those. The GM's role is to hire the scouting director, though. Also, to set up the minor league systems....so the GM has to get some credit/blame for development.

 

GMs make the trade decisions. Even if they get advice from others, they are accountable for those, and should be judged on those. Same with FA decisions.

 

Unfortunately for BS, the trades mostly stunk......

 

Judging him on the outcomes of the roster at the time? Unfair.

 

Judging him on the outcomes of the trades? Fair.

[jimmer]

The Hunter situation was cause because Ryan didn't get him signed prior to the 2007 season. Smith had that doozy dropped in his lap compounded by the trade of Castillo that ticked off Hunter and Santana (and likely others) which likely didn't help negotiations with either player.  While the Santana trade was bungled no doubt, it could have been avoided by having a longer extension in the first place or by Ryan himself trading him.

 

I don't blame either on Smith.  

 

And Smith's failures were likely due to him not being really right for the job, even though he was hand-picked him to be the GM by Ryan himself.

Edited April 10, 2015 by jimmer

[diehardtwinsfan]

Smith gets blame because he was on the wrong end of two horribly one sided trades. I agree that it overshadows some of the good things he did, particularly in the international market.

[bird]

Small thing perhaps, but while Ryan was the predominant influence regarding Smith's ascension, hand-picked might be a bit strong in an organization known internally for having a consensus-building culture.

[jimmer]

 

Small thing perhaps, but while Ryan was the predominant influence regarding Smith's ascension, hand-picked might be a bit strong in an organization known internally for having a consensus-building culture.

True, but when an organization trusts a guy like that Twins do Ryan, and Ryan has Smith as his right hand man/assistant GM, his recommendation along with a STRONG organizational tendency to promote from within, lends itself to believe that it was pretty much a situation where they picked the guy Ryan was grooming for the job. So yes, ownership had the final say, but really.  C'mon. :-) 

[bird]

 

True, but when an organization trusts a guy like that Twins do Ryan, and Ryan has Smith as his right hand man/assistant GM, his recommendation along with a STRONG organizational tendency to promote from within, lends itself to believe that it was pretty much a situation where they picked the guy Ryan was grooming for the job. So yes, ownership had the final say, but really.  C'mon. :-) 

C'mon back at ya. :-). Smith never reported to Ryan. He was not his right hand man regarding the GM duties. I can't speak for any grooming that went on. Clearly not enough though.  And word around the org was that Smith wasn't the consensus-builder that Ryan was. So, bad recommendation, Mr. Ryan.

 

People close to the Pohlad organization will tell you they trust the people they put in charge, yes. Until they don't. They get kudos for being loyal to employees, but the promotion from within thing seems to be mainly a Twins thing. But I think you're right, if Ryan had supported someone else, Smith would not have ascended. Wayne Krivsky, that darn traitor.

Edited April 10, 2015 by birdwatcher

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

2. There were some colossally bad trades during his tenure, but let's keep in mind he probably got a bit of advice on those moves and shoulders partial blame, not all.

You can say that about any GM.  In fact, knowing who to listen to, and when to listen to them, is a huge part of being a "general manager."

 

If TR is smart enough not to let those voices impact major decisions, that's a plus for him.  If Bill Smith wasn't, that's a demerit for him.

 

5. When his bosses look back at Smith's entire body of work, it will be on balance hugely positive, primarily because of his contributions internationally and in Fort Meyers, in my opinion.

"Hugely positive" is a bit too far.  Improving our international presence in 2008 was akin to a business finally getting a web site about the same time -- it was such an obvious and necessary move, it was more or less bound to happen by then, regardless of who was in charge.  (And "Fort Myers" refers to Hammond Stadium, and our spring training facilities?  I am sure those upgrades are appreciated, but  such upgrades seem pretty standard around pro sports these days.)

 

I'm willing to give Smith some credit for those things, just like I give him credit for his aggressive low-risk additions like Pavano, Cabrera, etc.  But there's no way those things aren't dwarfed by his numerous bungled high-risk moves.

[jimmer]

 

C'mon back at ya. :-). Smith never reported to Ryan. He was not his right hand man regarding the GM duties. I can't speak for any grooming that went on. Clearly not enough though.

 

People close to the Pohlad organization will tell you they trust the people they put in charge, yes. Until they don't. The promotion from within thing seems to be a Twins thing though. But I think you're right, if Ryan has supported someone else, Smith would not have ascended. Wayne Krivsky, that darn traitor.

I forgot the 'man' part of that c'mon phrase.  'C'mon Maaan. '

 

My bad :-)

 

So Smith wasn't Ryan's long time assistant? He wasn't the assistant GM, for like practically all of Ryan's first tenure as GM (like promoted to assistant GM two days after Ryan took over)?  I can't see how he didn't report to Ryan. That seems odd. Also seems odd that enough grooming couldn't occur in 13 years and that Ryan would have suggested him if he didn't think Smith was ready. 

Edited April 10, 2015 by jimmer

[bird]

 

You can say that about any GM.  In fact, knowing who to listen to, and when to listen to them, is a huge part of being a "general manager."

 

If TR is smart enough not to let those voices impact major decisions, that's a plus for him.  If Bill Smith wasn't, that's a demerit for him.

 

"Hugely positive" is a bit too far.  Improving our international presence in 2008 was akin to a business finally getting a web site about the same time -- it was such an obvious and necessary move, it was more or less bound to happen by then, regardless of who was in charge.  (And "Fort Myers" refers to Hammond Stadium, and our spring training facilities?  I am sure those upgrades are appreciated, but  such upgrades seem pretty standard around pro sports these days.)

 

I'm willing to give Smith some credit for those things, just like I give him credit for his aggressive low-risk additions like Pavano, Cabrera, etc.  But there's no way those things aren't dwarfed by his numerous bungled high-risk moves.

 

 

Yeah, I agree. "hugely positive" overstates it.

[bird]

 

I forgot the 'man' part of that c'mon phrase.  'C'mon Maaan. '

 

My bad :-)

 

So Smith wasn't Ryan's long time assistant? He wasn't the assistant GM, for like practically all of Ryan's first tenure as GM (like promoted to assistant GM two days after Ryan took over)?  I can't see how he didn't report to Ryan. That seems odd. 

 

I'm sure my memory will fail me, but long ago I had the privilege of sitting with Young Andrew during a spring training game and having him explain the whole operation to me during the course of the game, but that was years ago. At the time, the baseball operation reported tithe president, as did the Operations, Marketing, and Finance areas. It could be that Smith got asked to help out with contracts and stuff in between the Gebharts and Krivsky's, but Smith was always viewed as "not a baseball guy", even by himself.

[jimmer]

 

I'm sure my memory will fail me, but long ago I had the privilege of sitting with Young Andrew during a spring training game and having him explain the whole operation to me during the course of the game, but that was years ago. At the time, the baseball operation reported tithe president, as did the Operations, Marketing, and Finance areas. It could be that Smith got asked to help out with contracts and stuff in between the Gebharts and Krivsky's, but Smith was always viewed as "not a baseball guy", even by himself.

So, if he if wasn't ready, why did Ryan recommend him?

[nicksaviking]

 

Billy Smith gets too much blame and too much credit. I know, he was the GM, but:

Agreed.  Smith was largely known as a bean counter so it's doubtful he actually made any moves without thurough consultation.  It would be interesting to find out who was involved in all those decisions.  While Ryan had retired, he was still consulting with the team.  For all we know, the good, the bad and the ugly may have all still been in part influenced even by Ryan himself. 

Edited April 10, 2015 by nicksaviking

[bird]

 

So, if he if wasn't ready, why did Ryan recommend him?

 

 

No idea, but clearly a bad decision.

 

[diehardtwinsfan]

Smith gets blame because he was on the wrong end of two horribly one sided trades. I agree that it overshadows some of the good things he did, particularly in the international market.

I cannot do math today apparently. 3 horribly bad trades (Hardy, Santana, Garza) and then Nishi to replace Hardy... But yeah, he did do some good things, so not all is bad... But let's be honest here, there's a reason this team has been sooooo bad the last few years, and swinging and missing that badly on those trades is a large part of it.

[TheLeviathan]

I have a hard time blaming Smith for the Santana deal, that situation is 90% on Ryan for the crappy position he left it in.  Smith had better options, true, but that's a crappy spot to be stuck in a month into a high profile job you have no experience at.

 

Ryan should've handled that before he resigned.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

I have a hard time blaming Smith for the Santana deal, that situation is 90% on Ryan for the crappy position he left it in.  Smith had better options, true, but that's a crappy spot to be stuck in a month into a high profile job you have no experience at.

 

Ryan should've handled that before he resigned.

I thought Ryan did handle it.  He probably would have kept Santana as the ace in 2008, let him walk, and collected a pair of draft picks, as he did for most other pending free agents.

[TheLeviathan]

 

I thought Ryan did handle it.  He probably would have kept Santana as the ace in 2008, let him walk, and collected a pair of draft picks, as he did for most other pending free agents.

 

Then he should've better communicated that plan to his successor.  

[tobi0040]

Agreed. Can't blame Johan and garza deals on smith. I will say that part of go go's issue was that he was brought up way too soon an that is on the gm. I feel like we really rushed that to show we got something for yohan.

 

The garza thing was irritating. You never trade a really good, controlled pitcher for a corner outfielder. You just don't.

[tobi0040]

I meant to say you can't blame the yohan and hunter situation on smith.

[ashbury]

 

The garza thing was irritating. You never trade a really good, controlled pitcher for a corner outfielder. You just don't.

The Garza thing was irritating because we traded away the wrong guy. You'll recall we had a perceived glut of good young starters. There were differences of opinion about who were the best among the group; hindsight now is 20/20 of course. But Garza was the one that seemed clearest to me not to trade. I think the Twins went with whoever got the most in trade, whereas I'd be inclined to trade away whoever got me the least, unless I was very sure my scouts were miles better than the Rays'. I think the Twins were also overly swayed by not liking Garza's cockiness or whatever.

[tobi0040]

I will take garza's cockiness over delmons laziness any day

 

The kicker is smith was convinced delmon was better than garza so he threw in our starting ss too

[notoriousgod71]

Smith actually acquired players to help the Twins win rather than always trading for the future.

 

Pavano, Cabrera, Fuentes, Rauch were all keys in making the postseason. Signing Hudson, Thome, and acquiring Hardy were good moves.

 

I think he was backed into a corner by Ryan up and quitting on the Hunter and Santana deals. Trading Garza and Bartlett for Young didn't work out but Young was the type of young hitter everyone had been clamoring about forever. It's a shame it didn't work out.

 

In the end the only thing I really blame him for is Ramos for Capps and really that doesn't make that big a difference as Ramos has not exactly been the second coming of Johnny Bench.

[Thrylos]

Facts:

a. The Twins had a better cumulative record under Bill Smith than they did under Terry Ryan  (So I suspect that if "the legacy of Bill Smith is never going to be thought of in a positive manner", Ryan's should be thought of in less positive manner.  Wins and Losses do not lie, no matter how many excuses one can throw out there...)

b. Unlike his predecessor (and successor) the Twins under Bill Smith did trade prospects for established players to help them contend

c. (and this is a biggy)  Smith wrote huge checks to International Free Agents for the first time in the Twins' iteration of the franchise.  (and the checks got smaller after he left.)   No Smith =  no Sano, Polanco, Kepler etc...

Edited April 10, 2015 by Thrylos

[TheLeviathan]

Every time Smith comes up I point this out:

 

If Wilson Ramos hadn't gotten hurt (a refrain that has continued by the way), there was strong talk that we were about to package him and Aaron Hicks as part of a deal for Cliff Lee.

 

A)  That's a deal TR would've NEVER even been strongly rumored to make

 

and 

 

Regardless of whether that move would've gotten us a World Series, I'd go back and make that deal 100 times out of 100 knowing what I know now.  Just goes to show how radically things can change.

[clutterheart]

One good thing about Smith was he spent the money Target Field was bringing in. Ownership wanted him gone because he wanted to increase the payroll.

Ownership was giving the vote of confidence. He presented his offseason plan to fix the team.

He was fired soon after, Ryan was rehired and Ryan slashed payroll while ownership banked the revenue from the Taxpayer funded stadium.

 

Smith wasnt a good GM but he spent money that Ryan would not. I would bet 5 of my own dollars if Ryan was the GM Sano would be in Pittsburgh now.

[Mike Sixel]

One good thing about Smith was he spent the money Target Field was bringing in. Ownership wanted him gone because he wanted to increase the payroll.

Ownership was giving the vote of confidence. He presented his offseason plan to fix the team.

He was fired soon after, Ryan was rehired and Ryan slashed payroll while ownership banked the revenue from the Taxpayer funded stadium.

Smith wasnt a good GM but he spent money that Ryan would not. I would be 5 of my own dollars if Ryan was the GM Sano would be in Pittsburgh now.

And Mauer would be in Boston.....

[tobi0040]

 

 He presented his offseason plan to fix the team.
He was fired soon after, Ryan was rehired and Ryan slashed payroll while ownership banked the revenue from the Taxpayer funded stadium.

 

It is rare that I defend the Twins owners.  But after going 63-99 with an payroll near $110M (filled with a bunch of old players).....my understanding is Bill Smith's plan was to effectively double down and re-sign all the veterans, like Cuddy, Nathan, Kubel, etc.

 

Hard to knock the Twins for wanting to go in another direction.