Article: Ryan Dismissal Leaves Many Questions

[Seth Stohs]

Like most, I was sitting at my desk at work on Monday morning. At about 11:20, I checked my e-mail and there it was, “Minnesota Twins Announce General Manager Terry Ryan Has Been Relieved of His Duties.” Like most, my attention was on that topic for much of the rest of the day. My mind was racing, so many thoughts, ideas and questions running through my mind.

 

In the afternoon, CEO Jim Pohlad and President Dave St. Peter spoke to the media at Target Field. After reading and hearing their comments, there wasn’t any more clarity. There were, however, more questions.Before we get to the questions, I’m going to take a moment to share some thoughts on Terry Ryan. As you’ve noticed, most people who know Ryan or have worked in any capacity start discussions today with what a terrific person that he is. Then they go on to, typically, state that despite that, the Twins needed to make a change. It’s hard to argue with any of that. Terry Ryan has always treated me with the utmost respect and been upfront and as honest as he can be. He has been very helpful to me and accepting of Twins Daily. I have always enjoyed each opportunity and I have had to converse with Ryan and feel like I learn something each time whether or not we’re even talking about baseball.

 

For me, Terry Ryan was always someone I admired. I look at what he did in the late 90s to set up the success the Twins had for most of the decade of 2000. Signing veterans and then trading them to acquire more young talent. Building a farm system and building a winner on a budget. As a blogger who started in 2003, I enjoyed seeing the transactions and trying to figure out what Ryan was doing. I recall seemingly any time I wrote something about the Twins being out of it, they would find a way to get themselves back into contention.

 

Unfortunately, since his return, the Twins have had many low moments, and there have been fewer positive turn-arounds.

 

When Ryan reclaimed the GM position, I sent him a quick note. He responded relatively quickly and noted “we won’t take any shortcuts.”

 

He set out to help re-establish and repopulate the Twins minor league system. And you know what… he did just that. The last few years, the Twins have been one of the top three minor league organizations by most who rank those types of things. In the last couple of seasons, we have begun to see some of the talented players who have helped the Twins to those rankings. And the farm system is still stacked with terrific talent.

 

Think about it for a moment. Ryan made the focus of the organization development of the minor league system. Miguel Sano, Byron Buxton, Max Kepler, and Jorge Polanco all have a lot of room to grow as players. Jose Berrios will take off at some point, and within the next two or three years the likes of Kohl Stewart, Stephen Gonsalves, Tyler Jay, Felix Jorge, Fernando Romero and some others have a chance to round out a solid rotation. Taylor Rogers, Trevor May, Michael Tonkin and Ryan Pressly are developing this year and will lead the way as JT Chargois, Nick Burdi, Mason Melotakis and Trevor Hildenberger are on their way. In some ways, I think that whoever takes over as the next Twins general manager is going to look pretty smart when so many of these young, talented players reach their potential.

 

Will Terry Ryan get credit when this team takes off thanks to the core of young players that developed under his watch?

 

That’s one question I have, and here are some more questions I have after today.

 

What’s up with the timing of this decision?

 

My first organizational thought after my initial surprise at the Twins move was, why did they make this decision less than two weeks from this year’s August 1st trade deadline? That certainly puts Rob Antony, who was named the interim GM, in a tough position. Then again, he will be supported by the Twins current front office, scouts and player personnel staff.

 

Will Rob Antony get a legitimate shot to have the interim-label removed?

 

All indications from Monday’s discussions seem to indicate that the Twins will look to hire someone from outside the organization. However, the track record of the organization would certainly indicate that he will be given an opportunity. How he handled the trade deadline and, frankly, how the team performs may be his interview for the job. Maybe that is why Terry Ryan resigned when he did, to give Antony an opportunity to show what he can do, his style, etc.

 

Should Rob Antony get a legitimate shot at the full-time GM job?

 

Among Twins fans, the general sentiment seems to be that they have to go outside the organization to change the culture. When Antony’s name comes up, fans like to bring up the spring training when Antony took over the reigns when Ryan was working through his cancer treatments and recovery. They like to bring up the decision to keep Jason Kubel and Jason Bartlett on the Opening Day roster. First, that’s a very small sample size. All other reports indicate that Antony has done a nice job as Ryan’s assistant GM. He is well respected among players and scouts for his negotiations in arbitration and free agencies. He’s being given a lot of credit, by Eduardo Nunez, for bringing him to the Twins. And yes, he has been involved in the current ‘regime,’ but that doesn’t mean that things would be exactly the same under Antony’s leadership. Maybe they would be, but my assumption is that Antony would be willing to do some things differently. In general, I just don’t like the idea that it has to be someone from outside the organization.

 

Should the Twins go outside the organization for their GM hire?

 

To appease the fan base, it is probably a good idea to hire someone from outside. While the Twins have implemented many more systems throughout the minor leagues and added more statistical analysis, it is never a bad idea to look elsewhere for new and fresh ideas. If nothing else, the Twins ownership group needs to take time to consider what is happening in other organizations and reassess their own expectations for a GM or other roles in the organization.

 

So, who will make the hire? Who will sit in on the interviews?

 

From various interviews, it does appear that the Twins could use a search firm to develop a list or candidates or even make a recommendation. However, it will be Jim Pohlad and Dave St. Peter who will have the final say. St. Peter even said that he would likely talk about candidates with Tom Kelly.

 

I’m not a huge fan of search firms, but I don’t know that Pohlad and St. Peter are necessarily the right people to make the decision on the next General Manager. I have my doubts.

 

More important, what are these two looking for in a GM?

 

In May, I wrote up many of the roles, responsibilities and requirements for a GM. I would hope that the owner and president would provide a search firm a very, very detailed list of exactly what they are looking for in the next GM.

 

Will Rob Antony be given full rein to do as he sees best for the Twins organization during this trade deadline?

 

We are being told that he will not be limited. We are told that they have complete confidence in Antony to do what is best for the organization. This is such a big trade deadline with some very difficult decisions to make. Which players will or should be traded? How will he do in terms of negotiating prospect returns? The tough part of this is that those trades really can’t be graded for several years.

 

The unfortunate thing for Antony is that he will be trading veterans and getting back non-big name prospects. Most fans will respond to any Twins trade returns with “Who is that?” Some will say, “That’s all Antony was able to get for (insert Nunez, Kintzler, Abad, Escobar, Santana, Nolasco here)?” He could trade Brian Dozier for a bigger return and make a bigger splash, but then critics will question that decision as well. It’s a tough situation for Antony to be thrust into, but again it’s probably the only option to give him some experience to add to his resume.

 

Should the Twins wait until after the season to decide?

 

Well, Pohlad has said that they are going to start their search right away and would like to name their new GM even before the season ends. Is this wise? There are only 30 MLB General Manager jobs available. Each year, maybe one, possibly two GM jobs are available (if that many), so these jobs don’t come around real often. By starting this process and making a decision early, they will get a headstart on other GM jobs that may open up in the offseason (if any).

 

The downside is that there may be playoff-contending teams that won’t let their employees apply or interview for this job until after their seasons. In other words, it’s possible that a couple of potential candidates may not be available for this reason.

Is the Twins General Manager a desirable position that candidates should seek?

 

It absolutely should be a job that people would want. As I wrote earlier, the talent accumulated by Ryan and Company will make the next GM look really smart over the next couple of years. There is a lot of talent. Secondly, as I mentioned earlier, there are only 30 Major League GM jobs available. These jobs don’t come along, so there should be plenty of strong options for Pohlad and St. Peter to consider. Finally, if the team has any form of success with the GM, the organization is very loyal. It’s a job that could come with a lot of leeway.

 

How does this affect the rest of the Twins front office?

 

For the short-term, it doesn’t. Rob Antony takes over as interim GM. They continue in their roles, supporting Antony. But if someone else is chosen as the General Manager, you would think that he (or she) would come with some of his own personnel. I personally hope that the new GM would be open to keeping at least some of the current staff. Would a new GM expand upon Jack Goin’s current analytical group, or would he bring in his own people? How will Mike Radcliff, the Twins director of player personnel and long-time employee who, like Ryan, has given up several opportunities to be with other organizations, fit into the organization? Does Deron Johnson remain the team’s scouting director? Does Brad Steil remain the Twins minor league director? I don’t think we know.

 

Pohlad has said that Paul Molitor will be the Twins manager in 2017 regardless of who the GM is. Why would he do that? How does it affect the on-field coaching staff?

 

I have no idea why Pohlad would say that a GM can't make decide on his own manager 2017, year one of his or her tenure. Look at any sport and a new GM will almost always want to insert his own choice for manager or coach. Often, he will allow the current coach to stick around, but he is basically a lame duck and it doesn’t take long for a new coaching staff to be brought in. For the remainder of 2016, the coaching staff is most likely safe. The manager appears safe for at least the start of 2017, but beyond that I can’t imagine the coaching staff has a lot of job security.

 

Will the Twins bring back Terry Ryan in some capacity sometime in the future?

 

It is certainly possible that Ryan will come back to the Twins in some capacity, similar to Ron Gardenhire or Bill Smith? Obviously there is no way to know that answer right now. Pohlad and St. Peter indicate that they believe Ryan will seek a job elsewhere at this time. And he should. He is likely to have several offers to be a scout down the stretch for a winning team, or maybe a scouting director for a team as we go forward.

 

I get that there is a strong percentage of fandom that hates that they would bring back the likes of Smith or Gardenhire. I’m certainly on the complete opposite end of that spectrum. Bill Smith was a very good employee for the Twins for 20-25 years before his stint as the GM. He had a lot of strong qualities. Why would an organization not take advantage of those qualities. Since his return, he has been used in roles away from the baseball operations group. He has been very instrumental in the renovations at Hammond Stadium, the player academy in Ft. Myers, and will be key in the development of the new academy in the Dominican Republic. Gardenhire had a lot of success as a coach and a manager in the organization. He has a lot of knowledge to share, or can be an ear for minor league managers to talk to. After taking some time off, his return has been appreciated throughout the system. I don’t know why an organization wouldn’t want smart baseball people involved in the organization if they are still interested. And, for me, I would want to work in a culture where people like that are welcomed back. To me, it says a lot (positively) about the Twins culture brought about through the leadership of Terry Ryan.

 

If Ryan would ever be willing to come back in an advisory role in the scouting department, I’d certainly be willing to bring him back. I don’t know that he would want that though.

 

That is a bunch of questions after the dismissal of Terry Ryan. And you may have more in mind. Please feel free to ask more questions or answer some of these in the Comments below.

 

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[beckmt]

Nice writeup Seth.  I hope the Twins having made this change, go outside the orgainization for the next GM. 

I also am a believer in things could be much worse if the Twins pick the wrong person, Witness Seatle.  Trying to fill the seats while rebuilding is not easy, but hope the Twins move a lot of the veterans and make a few philosophy changes,

1.  Sign only possible #1 or #2 starters, with the pitching coming up the ranks Twins have plenty of bodies, only need a top of rotation type to move this along.

2.  Pitching wins, keep finding and moving pitchers though the system.

3.  Development and fundamentals seem to be an issue,  this may need a major overhall of minor league staff or just a change in making sure playing time relates to this area.

4.  Hitting seems to be ok, though this is more of a player issue than a coach. 

5.  Move on from older players, Twins may only be competitive in 2018 at the earliest, trade most of the older over 25 players

6.  Have a frank discussion with Joe Mauer to see if he will waive his no trade clause, he may want to go out with a winner and he is almost certainly not part of the next very good Twins club.

7.  Continue finding good young players in trades, this was a TR strength, this must be continued.  For the next day or two, I am sure RA will be called with sell low offers, hopefully offers will be better closer to the deadline.

[troyhobbs]

It shouldn't be hard to acquire young talent when you have a top 5 pick every year and practically every attempt TR made to supplement that talent went bad. I think it's all PR about going outside the organization for the next GM and will be genuinely shocked if Antony isn't the GM in 2017.

[jimmer]

 

It shouldn't be hard to acquire young talent when you have a top 5 pick every year and practically every attempt TR made to supplement that talent went bad. I think it's all PR about going outside the organization for the next GM and will be genuinely shocked if Antony isn't the GM in 2017.

Yeah, a lot of the quality talent we have, that we're excited about, was either brought in during Smith's time or due to having high drafts picks from losing so much. All teams draft, that's not unique to this organization. And, really, most of the guys from this supposedly great farm system that have actually seen time in the majors are looking/have looked severely over-matched.

 

How much talent that we are excited about is due to Ryan trading off talent to get prospects?  Meyer? (yeah, not so good), May? Nice pickup then decided to use him completely incorrectly.  We have failed to trade players for prospects though. We have brought in bad FAs and extended players we should have never extended.  We signed a player that supposedly made it necessary to make one of the dumbest decisions, moving Sano to the OF.  Could not have been easier to make the call that would be horrible, and it was.  And that player acquired that made that ridiculous decision necessary had to go to the minors because, well, he's over-matched.

 

In any event, in this ode to Ryan's (and the Twins organizational) greatness, there's a lot of, um, questionable assumption that seem premature

 

A: a bunch of these guys are going to stick

B: that they'll be difference makers 
C: we're going to emerge contenders because of them (and by extension Ryan)

 

It is, however, good to read how the fans critical of Ryan and hte management part of this organization are so very wrong, wrong, wrong :-)

 

Like Dan S (the guy who does ZiPS) said yesterday, this move was overdue.

Edited July 19, 2016 by jimmer

[Yossarian]

Rob Antony would be the second coming of Bill Smith. There are a plethora of worthy candidates outside the Twins' organization, and the organization historically has returned employees' loyalty in kind. It's a good GM job. LaRussa had an impressive list of candidates for the D-backs' GM job awhile back, and I hope the Twins make a strong effort to measure their inside candidates against the outside ones.

[Old Twins Cap]

Pohlad to Ryan:  The Twins have failed at every level, total system breakdown.  Fan base has deserted Target Field in droves.  Never seen anything like this.  You are fired! .......  Terry, let me know what's best for you in terms of when and how you would like to leave this organization over the next year.

 

Pohlad to next GM:  This is your team.  Turn it around.  Ask for and demand accountability.  I want to clean house and bring in new leadership.  But, whatever else, Molitor is your manager in 2017.

 

Is it just me or are there generous hints of what is really wrong with the Twins in Pohlad's handling of this? 

 

Gardenhire's tenure went on and on.  Now Ryan.  Anthony is next.

[jimmer]

 

Rob Antony would be the second coming of Bill Smith. There are a plethora of worthy candidates outside the Twins' organization, and the organization historically has returned employees' loyalty in kind. It's a good GM job. LaRussa had an impressive list of candidates for the D-backs' GM job awhile back, and I hope the Twins make a strong effort to measure their inside candidates against the outside ones.

Yeah, LaRussa had a impressive list of candidates...and he chose Dave Stewart.  Let's hope our team doesn't repeat that horrific blunder. :-)

[tobi0040]

I think you are spot on Seth about why TR resigned when he did. To give Antony an audition.

[Homer Hanky]

Very Nice... thank you Seth... 

 

I would like to see an outsider come in but, someone who would hire Torii as his VP and develop Torii into that role... I think fans would be okay with Torii as the main man! 

 

 

[Vanimal46]

Maybe I'm in the minority but I would not be okay with Torii as the main man. The organization needs a complete overhaul with their culture. Bringing in a former Twin IMO is not going to fix the culture problem. 

I'm curious why you're not a fan of search firms, Seth? A resource like that should be a requirement in this search considering Pohlad's not very connected in the baseball world. 

[jctwins]

Sadly there is little question that St. Peter's job is completely safe as well. As the voice of the team, he should be going out the door with the General Manager.

[Thrylos]

 

Rob Antony would be the second coming of Bill Smith. 

 

Fact:  The Twins had a better record under Bill Smith (or any other GM) than they did under Ryan.   

 

So are you saying that Antony will lead the Twins in more wins than Ryan?   I am not that sure.  What made Smith a good GM is that he was willing to delegate and listen to baseball people about baseball decisions. And that he had the guts to make those decisions.  What made Smith a bad GM was that he was listening to the wrong people about those baseball decisions (the likes of Gardenhire & Radcliff & Rantz.)

 

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

Yeah, a lot of the quality talent we have, that we're excited about, was either brought in during Smith's time or due to having high drafts picks from losing so much. All teams draft, that's not unique to this organization. And, really, most of the guys from this supposedly great farm system that have actually seen time in the majors are looking/have looked severely over-matched.

 

How much talent that we are excited about is due to Ryan trading off talent to get prospects?  Meyer? (yeah, not so good), May? Nice pickup then decided to use him completely incorrectly.  We have failed to trade players for prospects though. We have brought in bad FAs and extended players we should have never extended.  We signed a player that supposedly made it necessary to make one of the dumbest decisions, moving Sano to the OF.  Could not have been easier to make the call that would be horrible, and it was.  And that player acquired that made that ridiculous decision necessary had to go to the minors because, well, he's over-matched.

 

In any event, in this ode to Ryan's (and the Twins organizational) greatness, there's a lot of, um, questionable assumption that seem premature

 

A: a bunch of these guys are going to stick

B: that they'll be difference makers 
C: we're going to emerge contenders because of them (and by extension Ryan)

 

It is, however, good to read how the fans critical of Ryan and hte management part of this organization are so very wrong, wrong, wrong :-)

 

Like Dan S (the guy who does ZiPS) said yesterday, this move was overdue.

 

Let's not just pile on for the sake of piling on.  Ryan picked up plenty of decent talent in his second stint.  Berrios, Walker, Duffey, and Chargois are all sitting at the majors or on the cusp.  None of these were the products of drafting super high.  He picked up nice pieces in Palka, Thorpe, Burdi, Jorge, Romero, Wade, Garver, etc. as well... and these are just off the top of my head.

 

I won't argue there's a problem on the development side. I've been saying that much myself. We are about to find out how much of that is on Molitor/ownership than anything else.  Like it or not, the industry recognizes the talent that sits in the Twins system, and much of that is on Ryan as he manned the helm for the last four or so seasons. The new GM gets to figure out why it is we cannot seem to develop it.

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

Maybe I'm in the minority but I would not be okay with Torii as the main man. The organization needs a complete overhaul with their culture. Bringing in a former Twin IMO is not going to fix the culture problem. 

I'm curious why you're not a fan of search firms, Seth? A resource like that should be a requirement in this search considering Pohlad's not very connected in the baseball world. 

 

A good player does not equal a good GM or manager.  Heck, Dave Stewart was a pretty good player in his day.  I'd like to see Torii as a coach long before he gets any higher level responsibilities.  Also of note, I have zero problem if he gets a coaching job in the Minnesota system.

[Thrylos]

This team badly needs an outside voice (as well as general cleaning of the Front Office and the player development structure,) not to "appease the fans", but to have a chance in winning.  

 

I want to see the Pohlads ask these questions in their interviews for a GM:

 

- Show me your plan to make the Twins the best team in the league from the worst team in the league with the number of years and resources that it will take.

- Give me a reason why I should trust that you know what you are doing and that your plan has a high likelihood of success

- How do you feel about losing?  Any examples that you have turned around a losing franchise?

- Who will you bring with you, and what will they bring to the organization?

 

Antony will fail to answer well the last 3 questions in my opinion.

 

That's why he will be only an interim.  On the other hand, I hope (and suspect) that his future employment in the organization depends on how he does during this season.

 

This organization needs people with proven success, not the boss' buddies.  Where "Proven" is the operating word.  That makes any internal candidate that comes from baseball operations: a. unfit for the job and b. part of the problem likely... 

Edited July 19, 2016 by Thrylos

[alarp33]

Maybe I'm in the minority but I would not be okay with Torii as the main man. The organization needs a complete overhaul with their culture. Bringing in a former Twin IMO is not going to fix the culture problem.

 

You definitely are not in the minority. There's 100 baseball execs I would choose over Rob Antony... and I would still take Antony 10 times out of 10 over Torii Hunter. Why would his name even be mentioned? Because he played here and we all liked him?

[gunnarthor]

Nice write up Seth.  My guess is that ownership will hire someone we haven't heard of.  Jim Pohlad seems to hear the complaints of fans a lot more than his dad did.  So he'll find a GM who is willing to live with Molitor.  

[Mike Sixel]

This is such a well written, even handed piece! Thank you Seth. There is not some good vs evil, binary, thing in life........and Ryan had strengths and weaknesses like we all do. I think it was time, but this whole thing seems very oddly handled to me.

 

Seriously well written, Seth.

[Seth Stohs]

 

Maybe I'm in the minority but I would not be okay with Torii as the main man. The organization needs a complete overhaul with their culture. Bringing in a former Twin IMO is not going to fix the culture problem. 

I'm curious why you're not a fan of search firms, Seth? A resource like that should be a requirement in this search considering Pohlad's not very connected in the baseball world. 

 

I think that there are positives and negatives of search firms. For instance, a search firm told Glen Taylor that Tom Thibideau was a good hire. We all knew that. It was just a matter of how much it would cost. 

 

Search firms don't always work... 

 

However, my main point there was that I have no confidence in Pohlad or St. Peter to know who good people in the baseball industry would be. I feel like they pretty much need to be told who to hire. 

[Mike Sixel]

 

I think that there are positives and negatives of search firms. For instance, a search firm told Glen Taylor that Tom Thibideau was a good hire. We all knew that. It was just a matter of how much it would cost. 

 

Search firms don't always work... 

 

However, my main point there was that I have no confidence in Pohlad or St. Peter to know who good people in the baseball industry would be. I feel like they pretty much need to be told who to hire. 

 

I have to agree with that last part. Pohlad and St. Peter are good at things, no doubt. You can see it in the success of various actions. But, like you, I am not confident that either one knows the first thing about hiring a good GM.

[tobi0040]

However, my main point there was that I have no confidence in Pohlad or St. Peter to know who good people in the baseball industry would be. I feel like they pretty much need to be told who to hire.

Seth I think most would agree that you have been the most positive and supportive of the Twins front office on the site. So to hear you say this shows, at least to me how little confidence there is in both Jim Pohlad and Dave St. Peter.

[Seth Stohs]

I think making general comments on how good Rob Antony would or wouldn't be as GM aren't fair. Yes, he worked for Ryan, but that doesn't necessarily mean that he would do everything exactly like Ryan. He may pick some things that worked well, and he may have other ideas for other things. Guilt by Association is a bad thing.

 

I'm not saying Antony is or isn't the right person, but writing him off because he worked for Terry Ryan isn't right either. 

 

I'm not going to pretend to know who the right person is. I know certain things I would like to see from a candidate. But if Theo Epstein came to the Twins, it doesn't mean they would be a perennial playoff team. Maybe, but not necessarily. 

 

"Proven" or experienced GMs won't guarantee anything, and maybe hiring someone we've never heard of will prove to be the best thing. Who knows?

[Mike Sixel]

Given the Kubel / Bartlett spring, it is hard for me to see how Antony (who didn't know what many advanced stats were a few years ago) could be a top candidate at this point......I suppose he could surprise us all, but we only know what we know. We know what his 1 spring looked like, and we know he had literally no idea about advanced stats when they were already in the public domain for years.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

I have to agree with that last part. Pohlad and St. Peter are good at things, no doubt. You can see it in the success of various actions. But, like you, I am not confident that either one knows the first thing about hiring a good GM.

Yeah, it feels a bit like a non-tech company letting their CEO hire the CTO. Hey, maybe they get it right and pick the right person... But are they truly qualified to make that call?

 

In a perfect world, they lean heavily on both internal help (from the qualified department) and external help to make that decision. A large part of being a good leader is acknowledging you don't know something and aren't qualified to make a call.

 

I hope everyone involved are smart enough to bring external help and guys like Radcliff/Johnson into the conversation. While Radcliff and Johnson may have ulterior motives (keeping their jobs), they've both forgotten more about baseball than DSP or Pohlad will ever know.

 

And you have the external company there to not only discover qualified candidates but to counter any ulterior motives from established employees.

[howieramone2]

Seth, my first thought was here comes a salary dump. In the short term by the trade deadline, followed by additional moves in the off-season to minimize payroll. Do you think I'm overreacting?

[Seth Stohs]

 

Seth I think most would agree that you have been the most positive and supportive of the Twins front office on the site. So to hear you say this shows, at least to me how little confidence there is in both Jim Pohlad and Dave St. Peter.

 

And I am OK with that. Dave St. Peter runs the show and does his job well, but he readily admits that he doesn't deal much with the baseball side of things. Jim Pohlad is fine when he stays out of the way, and I"m OK with that from an owner. I don't necessarily want them budding in on things. But obviously these two are the ones that need to hire a good candidate which is why they need to get outside help. In my opinion... 

[KidBro]

 

Nice write up Seth.  My guess is that ownership will hire someone we haven't heard of.  Jim Pohlad seems to hear the complaints of fans a lot more than his dad did.  So he'll find a GM who is willing to live with Molitor.

 

Yep and Yep.  this is my Xenophobia

 

 

[HitInAPinch]

I think Terry Ryan's true calling was as a director of the farm system.  From what I've read, that's what he enjoyed the most.

 

Moving forward:

 

While not entirely ruling out in-house candidates, I'd go outside and get a reboot.  Get that unknown person who has worked under a GM that has built a team and not under successful GM's who have a big budget to spend on players.  In other words:  Hire a Talent Scout.

 

On the other hand, from the time Carl bought the Twins to now, the value of the Twins has risen by something like 95%.  There's money that can could be spent.  I don't expect a banker son of a banker to allow large spending, but a nice Ace-type pitcher would make a big difference to this team. 

 

Sabermetrics:  Don't waste time waiting for a new GM to be hired.  Increase Goin's team budget now.

[HitInAPinch]

 

 

Seth, my first thought was here comes a salary dump. In the short term by the trade deadline, followed by additional moves in the off-season to minimize payroll. Do you think I'm overreacting?

Salary dump?  To what end?  I mean, if you do that, you'll be depending on almost strictly minor leaguers.

Is the fan-base really prepared for something like that?

[nicksaviking]

The GM has to come from outside.

 

That being said, there really isn't anything Anthony can do now to prove he's the guy, and that is an unfair position the team put him in. The Twins could win out, yet Anthony should get no credit for it. The Twins could lose out and Anthony should get no blame.

 

He reall only has two actions to make that may affect the onfield product at this time. 1. He can call up the young player, however that should be a given, Anthony can't be credited with doing something that every other sane GM for a losing team would do. 2. Anthony can trade the vets something else any sane GM would do. The quality of the return for the vets should not be made clear until long after the Twins new GM has been hired.

 

So my fear is that Anthony won't call up the young guys and won't trade the vets because not doing so may give the team some paper wins, which leads to a bigger fear, that St Peter and Pohlad don't know enough about baseball to realize the record the rest of the way should have zero impact on the decision.