2009: Bill Smith's Lasting Legacy

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.

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.

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.

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. :-) 

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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?

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

No idea, but clearly a bad decision.

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.

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.

Is Carlos Gomez (the player now) and prospects for Johan Santana really a bad deal is retrospect?

My arguement would be that the trade was good, but the organizational development which failed Gomez is what is to blame.