Article: TwinsDaily Interview With Terry Ryan: Gardenhire and Molitor

Interesting read, thank you. I see that his views on how to review his manager are pretty similar to what Joe Posnanski wrote the other day. Glad he's our GM.

Has he admitted that how they scout and develop players is wrong, though? Or has he said "we've done a bad job"? There is a big difference. If you keep your same processes, and blame it on the execution, you are likely to get the same process outcomes.

Well, in the few years Ryan's been back, the farm system has become one of the best in the game and might still be #1 despite losing Gibson, Arcia and Hicks. So maybe we shouldn't get rid of those development guys.

What does "takes full responsibility" mean? Nothing has changed, so who cares if he says that he takes full responsibility.

What hasn't changed? Did you expect a 99 loss team to become a winning team as soon as Ryan took over? What, even with hindsight, would you have done differently last year?

1. Embrace math and science as helpful things, not things to be mocked.

2. Hired people from outside the org, with different ideas, to reduce groupthink

3. Realized the good players cost real money, and spend it

4. Fired the scouts that recommended the same old tired pitcher types, that he trusts so much, that appear to be wrong over and over, not listened to them more

5. Hired a coaching staff that believes in shifts, and other "new ways" of thinking, that so far have proven to be effective

6. Looked hard at my development processes, and wonder why they have turned out so few good players. Without doing that, I can't say how I'd change them.

7. Embraced better nutrition and training in the minors, not trusting young adults to eat well based on low pay.

 

that's off the top of my head, without having time to give it more thought.

Most of these are just how you'd do things differently, none that would improve the team. And Ryan did bring in Jack Goin to do stats. You also make the claim of spend money but don't say how, even with the benefit of hindsight.

You seem stuck on some notion that the Twins can't develop talent despite a pretty successful history of doing that and currently having one of the top ranked farm systems. Why can't you accept the idea that it's just cyclical? That teams, esp low payroll teams as they were until 2010, don't always stay on top? Why does the normal ebb and flow have to mean that Ryan, who took over two years ago, is an old guy who doesn't understand the game? Since he's come back, has he been snookered in a trade? Has he been burned in a FA signing? Has he reorganized the organization? Have top prospects been rushed? Has the team drafted well? Has he brought in younger coaches and managers throughout the system? Has he made good small moves - waiver claims, minor league free agents, rule v picks?

What he hasn't done is waste money on large FA signings that wouldn't have helped the team anyway.

How can you matter-of-factly make that statment? Each of those things very likely would impact the team in some manner, why is it not possible they would improve the club if embraced?

Because it's true. His comments - Ryan mocks science and math, team suffers from groupthink - aren't necessarily true, just his opinion of Ryan. Saying "I'd do things differently" isn't the same as "I'd do things better." And saying "I'd do it differently" isn't a way to solve the problem when you don't know what the problem is. Even with the benefit of hindsight, no one has suggested a better way to do what Ryan has done, except abstract get rid of everyone posts.

Ryan seems to have figured that the team lacks talent, put people in charge of minor league development that he trusts and has given them talent. He has a track record of successfully rebuilding this team and there's no reason to think that he needs to fire a bunch of scouts b/c the a draft 7 years ago sucked. I find it stunning that people can look at what he's done the last two years as GM and still be anti-Ryan. He's a very good GM.