FSN interview with Terry Ryan [July 15, 2013]

[Parker Hageman]

Fox Sports North’s Tyler Mason has a great interview with Twins general manager Terry Ryan. Mason asks some solid questions pertaining to the current state of the team. The entire article is well-worth the few minute read but here are some snippets that I found noteworthy:

 

On his starting pitching:

 

“The one piece here is (Vance) Worley is in Triple-A. I didn't expect that. There's no question about that. (Kevin) Correia has certainly held his own, and (Mike) Pelfrey has given us the innings. We promoted (Kyle) Gibson, which is the thing that we were eventually hoping to do after spring training. Some of the things that we did try to accomplish, it's not a total disappointment. Some of those things have been OK.”

 

On being a buyer or seller:

 

“I think that's evident. We're deep in these standings here. We're a long way away from .500. It's very evident we'll be in the trade mode, there's no doubt about that.”

 

On whether Sano will be a September call-up:

 

“He's struggling right now, so I think that's a reach. He's got all he can handle at Double-A right now. We'll let him dictate what happens to him in the future. Right now, he's getting acclimated to better competition. The game's sped up. His offense is actually been behind his defense at Double-A."

 

On Ron Gardenhire’s job status:

 

“It's not Ron Gardenhire, it's our organization, pure and simple, and it starts with me. I think Gardy's doing the best we can. Until we start turning this thing around, we're going to have to figure out how to get better. Execution's certainly going to help. There's no one person that's responsible for anything that's going on, whether it's positive or negative. This is one of those times we're going through a tough stretch, and we're going to have to hang in there together and see if we can get it right.”

[ThePuck]

Pelfrey has given us innings. Less than 5 1/3 over 16 starts. Hasn't had enough innings to even qualify for stats.

 

Correia has held his own by having a great April.

 

Worley came off injury, but Ryan is surprised he struggled to the point of having to go to AAA.

 

Is this the worst rotation in baseball for quite some time?

 

And, basically, Gardy isn't going anywhere.

[TheLeviathan]

I like this:

 

We'll let him dictate what happens to him in the future.

[Brock Beauchamp]

The game's sped up. His offense is actually been behind his defense at Double-A."

 

I have to say this comment surprised me the most.

[SydneyTwinsFan]

Correia has held his own by having a great April.

 

Pretty harsh I think. 3 ER or less in 12 of 18 starts. 3.96 ERA in 9 starts at Target Field. Take out 1 bad start against Atlanta in May (5 ER in 4 IP) and his ERA for the year would be under 4.

 

Not sure what you were expecting from a guy costing $4.5m this year who got crucified from the moment he walked through the door, but he has taken the ball every 5 days and done a pretty serviceable job IMO.

[ThePuck]

Pretty harsh I think. 3 ER or less in 12 of 18 starts. 3.96 ERA in 9 starts at Target Field. Take out 1 bad start against Atlanta in May (5 ER in 4 IP) and his ERA for the year would be under 4.

 

Not sure what you were expecting from a guy costing $4.5m this year who got crucified from the moment he walked through the door, but he has taken the ball every 5 days and done a pretty serviceable job IMO.

 

I don't care what he's doing compared to his pay. As a fan, why would I? That's an owner/FO issue. I care about how the rotation is performing overall, and it's horrible and he's contributing to that. Just cause Ryan is, for now, getting his money's worth from Correia doesn't mean anything to me. Any bets on his ERA being closer to 5.00 than 4.50 at the end of the season (if not over 5.00)? His FIP is 4.70.

 

I love it when people say, if you take this out and his or whatever, then it's a lot better than it looks as if it doesn't all count. BTW, why does his games at TF matter more than away from TF?

[The Wise One]

I don't care what he's doing compared to his pay. As a fan, why would I? That's an owner/FO issue. I care about how the rotation is performing overall, and it's horrible and he's contributing to that. Just cause Ryan is, for now, getting his money's worth from Correia doesn't mean anything to me. Any bets on his ERA being closer to 5.00 than 4.50 at the end of the season (if not over 5.00)? His FIP is 4.70.

 

I love it when people say, if you take this out and his or whatever, then it's a lot better than it looks as if it doesn't all count. BTW, why does his games at TF matter more than away from TF?

 

I love it when someone uses a stat like fip as a justification for something other than a relative comparison between to players. 1/2 of Correias games will not be a mythical nuetral park but at Target Field where he has performed well enough to have a 3.34 ERA. His fip will always suck because his a pitch to hopefully weak contact type of pitcher. This response is not to say anything of Correia being anything other than a guy who throws a ball every fifth day and your stat has a limitation.

[Badsmerf]

I don't think anyone can say to my face that Correia or his signing is part of the problem. If anything, he's been part of the solution. Sick of talking about Correia.

[Guest USAFChief]

I love it when people say, if you take this out and his or whatever, then it's a lot better than it looks as if it doesn't all count. BTW, why does his games at TF matter more than away from TF?

 

It's OK to take out April, though, I guess.

[Badsmerf]

I love it when someone uses a stat like fip as a justification for something other than a relative comparison between to players.

[Riverbrian]

I just don't have the inclination to damn Kevin Correia. I am satisfied with his performance and I'm not waiting for him to fail. When he actually fails... I'll be more inclined.

[ThePuck]

I just don't have the inclination to damn Kevin Correia. I am satisfied with his performance and I'm not waiting for him to fail. When he actually fails... I'll be more inclined.

 

I don't WANT him to fail, not at all, I'm saying what I think he does.

[ThePuck]

It's OK to take out April, though, I guess.

 

Not at all...in fact I gave him credit for April right away, didn't I? :-)

[Brock Beauchamp]

Haven't we all admitted we were wrong about Correia yet? Are we still in the denial phase?

 

I still don't like the idea behind the signing but come on, the guy has pitched well enough to earn his paycheck and then some.

[ThePuck]

I'm glad you guys like Correia. I guess I'm in the minority. I wanted Ryan to actual seriously improve the rotation, not have pitchers do well based on what they are being paid. How much is our current rotation getting paid? I guess I should be happy cause they're getting paid like 11M. Can't expect much for that.

 

I guess I should be happy with his 4.23 season ERA, a WHIP over 1.400, and and ERA over 5.00 with only 4 quality starts over the last two months.

 

And, again, I don't care what any player's paycheck is, that's a owner/FO issue. I care about having players with quality seasons.

[ThePuck]

Haven't we all admitted we were wrong about Correia yet? Are we still in the denial phase?

 

I still don't like the idea behind the signing but come on, the guy has pitched well enough to earn his paycheck and then some.

 

Who has been wrong about Correia. He had a very good April and that's it. There's still half a season left. I'll happily admit I was wrong about Correia if and when that is actually is true.

[ThePuck]

I love it when someone uses a stat like fip as a justification for something other than a relative comparison between to players.

 

Practically all stats are used to compare to other players. Their stats show us where they are ranked amongst others at their position.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Who has been wrong about Correia. He had a very good April and that's it. There's still half a season left. I'll happily admit I was wrong about Correia if and when that is actually is true.

 

He was also just fine in June, posting a 4.29 ERA over six starts and 35.2 innings.

 

In the three full months he has pitched, he has had one excellent month, one decent month, and one bad month. July isn't over yet, though it certainly hasn't looked good for him.

[Mike Sixel]

Back to the interview.....not sure how he can praise Pelfrey with a straight face.....not much news here, just him once again saying it is his fault, but that talk is cheap if nothing changes, either him leaving, or him changing his behavior.

[ThePuck]

He was also just fine in June, posting a 4.29 ERA over six starts and 35.2 innings.

 

In the three full months he has pitched, he has had one excellent month, one decent month, and one bad month. July isn't over yet, though it certainly hasn't looked good for him.

 

He has had only four quality starts in his last 13 starts. He's not completed 7 innings since mid-May. I guess I'm being picky.

[ThePuck]

Back to the interview.....not sure how he can praise Pelfrey with a straight face.....not much news here, just him once again saying it is his fault, but that talk is cheap if nothing changes, either him leaving, or him changing his behavior.

 

Yeah, I pointed that out too. The again, we aren't supposed to expect the truth from Ryan. He'll convince some fans he's right and many of the ones who know he's fibbing give him a pass on it anyway cause integrity isn't important nor should it be expected.

[ThePuck]

Fox Sports North’s Tyler Mason has a great interview with Twins general manager Terry Ryan. Mason asks some solid questions pertaining to the current state of the team. The entire article is well-worth the few minute read but here are some snippets that I found noteworthy:

 

On his starting pitching:

 

 

 

On being a buyer or seller:

 

 

 

On whether Sano will be a September call-up:

 

 

 

On Ron Gardenhire’s job status:

 

I forgot to thank you for posting this. Nice job as usual Parker!

[TheLeviathan]

Back to the interview.....not sure how he can praise Pelfrey with a straight face.....not much news here, just him once again saying it is his fault, but that talk is cheap if nothing changes, either him leaving, or him changing his behavior.

 

I can understand not wanting to slam a guy he's probably hoping to move the next few weeks.

 

But these comments again show how low the threshold is for veteran starters to be appreciated by this franchise. I'm still pretty uncomfortable with "having a pulse" and "doing stuff on the mound for a 4-5 innings" qualifying for success. Still far too little emphasis on guys capable of doing, you know, good stuff while they're out there.

(Obviously I'm being snarky, but really...does it amount to much more than that?)

[Brock Beauchamp]

He has had only four quality starts in his last 13 starts. He's not completed 7 innings since mid-May. I guess I'm being picky.

 

He averaged six innings a start and a 4.29 ERA in June. Give credit where credit is due. The guy has been league average for half a season making $4.5m a year when most of us expected him to grenade in April.

 

He still has a lot to prove in the coming months but thus far, Kevin Correia has not been the problem.

 

And the Quality Start stat is junk. It's completely arbitrary. 5.0 innings, one run allowed. NO GOOD! You awful, Mister Correia! 6.0 innings, three runs. I want to have your baby, Mister Correia!

 

Nothing more than lines randomly drawn in the sand.

[howieramone1406390264]

Back to the interview.....not sure how he can praise Pelfrey with a straight face.....not much news here, just him once again saying it is his fault, but that talk is cheap if nothing changes, either him leaving, or him changing his behavior.

I sure don't want him to change. The goal is to avoid a long rebuild. IMHO he's got this thing going in the right direction in just 18 months. I feel much more confident about the Twins future today than I did a year ago.

[Brock Beauchamp]

And as I said earlier, I still hate the thinking that went into the signing. But on its face, it was a decent pickup so far.

[Nick Nelson]

Kevin Correia is being paid to be a No. 4-5 starter. In that context, he's been pretty good. League-average ERA and he's on pace for 200 innings. It's not his fault that those modestly decent stats make him the team's best starter. There is really no ground for ripping him at this point unless your expectations were totally out of whack.

 

Pelfrey, on the other hand, was a horrible signing.

[ThePuck]

He averaged six innings a start and a 4.29 ERA in June. Give credit where credit is due. The guy has been league average for half a season making $4.5m a year when most of us expected him to grenade in April.

 

He still has a lot to prove in the coming months but thus far, Kevin Correia has not been the problem.

 

And the Quality Start stat is junk. It's completely arbitrary. 5.0 innings, one run allowed. NO GOOD! You awful, Mister Correia! 6.0 innings, three runs. I want to have your baby, Mister Correia!

 

Nothing more than lines randomly drawn in the sand.

 

I have zero issue with a quality start. You went at least 2/3 of the game (helping your bullpen, which is part of doing a good job) and giving up three or less earned runs (keeping your team in the game). Considering we live in the pitch count era, it's a good barometer of a good start.

 

And I still don't care about how well he's doing relative to his paycheck. I'm a fan, not an owner or a FO. Why fans care about that is beyond me.

[SydneyTwinsFan]

He had a very good April and that's it.

 

His June was OK too (4.29 ERA, 27/8 K/BB) but let's not go down the road of cherry picking stats in arbitrary clusters. I think his body of work judged over 110 IP to date is OK given the role he is suppoed to fill (back of the rotation innings eater, veteran presence, keep the team in games); you seem to have higher expectations which is fine. You can call me a chump at the end of the season if he implodes in the second half

 

My frustration with Ryan is that I would have liked Correia to have been the supporting piece of the off season free agent activity (with say a Dempster) rather than the headline act, but I think there is a lot more to complain about with the rotation than the one guy who has provided some reliability so far this year.

[ThePuck]

Kevin Correia is being paid to be a No. 4-5 starter. In that context, he's been pretty good. League-average ERA and he's on pace for 200 innings. It's not his fault that those modestly decent stats make him the team's best starter. There is really no ground for ripping him at this point unless your expectations were totally out of whack.

 

Pelfrey, on the other hand, was a horrible signing.

 

All of our pitchers are getting paid that way, so we should have no expectations whatsoever? This is the arguably the worst MLB rotation, overall, in over a decade when looking at everything.