BIG NEWS ON THE TWINS FRONT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Hester]

Earlyer today I was informed about a big twins deal about to go down tomorrow the 13th. I cant say what it is, you will have to wait and see

An inside source has let me in on it and it will be anounced thursday afternoon. Lets see who the first to report it is.

Hester

[CodyDawg]

since there cant be a big trade it has got to be signing Torii or extending Johan. Let's see how good your source is.....

[IFallsRon]

Looks like a reorganization.

To quote a former supervisor, "Maybe it's time some of you people consider other career opportunities."

[Bobby Bass]

I heard beer prices will be going up but will keep buck dog nights!!

[friendlyfisher]

LOL bobby, thats great.

I heard wally the beer man is quiting.

[PierBridge]

I'm thinking Terry Ryan is leaving!

[ozzie]

I think Pier is on to something!!

[fishinphilth]

WCCO is reporting that Ryan is leaving for personal reason

[Dhook]

Yep, I heard that too. wow!

[IFallsRon]

Terry Ryan will step down as Twins general manager and be succeeded by longtime assistant Bill Smith, according to three persons within the organization.

The Twins have called a 2 p.m. press conference today to announce a “major announcement’’ in the baseball department.

Ryan, 52, is completing his 12th season as general manager. The Twins have won the Central Division title in four of the last six seasons. He was Sporting News Executive of the Year in 2006, and is regarded as one of the top talent evaluators in baseball.

Smith, 49, has been with the Twins for 22 years. He has been vice-president/assistant general manager the last 13 seasons.

Ryan is expected to stay with the organization as a senior advisor, working with the scouting department.

[fishlips]

He's not exactly leaving at the top...Ryan was starting to lose credibility with most fans. Would be nice to stop hearing "we're talking to a lot of teams" "we're looking at a lot of options" and start seeing some solid steps to better the hitting power. Not sure if the lack of movement to better the team the last year and a half is Ryan's fault or Pohlads ~ Ryan's leaving may indicate that Pohlad is the problem. You'd think with a stadium being built on the taxpayers dime, Pohlad would want some fans to fill the seats. The Twins policy of trying to get diamonds for coal isn't playing anymore with the other teams. The lack of power and a good DH has been an issue for too long.

[Scott M]

At least he's still staying on the payroll. I'd like to see them spend some money too with the new stadium coming and all. Ryan was a pretty cool guy. I met him at spring training once and we must have talked for 15 minutes...real personable and honest. Never overreacted much and a pretty good judge of talent. If he worked in a vacuum instead of cash-strapped Minnesota he'd have a lot more hardware on display.

[Windy City Walleye Hunter]

Ryan news is on the Coconut Telegraph here in the Windy, too! On the sports talk shows this afternoon.

Windy

[xedge2002]

I was really suprised to hear this! I am glad that he is staying on to assist in evaluating talent. Maybe the new GM will be more willing to pull the trigger on trading for players we need.

[Cicada]

I don't think Mr. Ryan lost credibilty with real fans that understand how the game really works. If nothing else I think it may have deepened the respect for the man. You know all these years, Terry Ryan has been talking about being in a cash strapped market. It may be the owner's budget is strapped and not the market, but I think Mr. Ryan has done very well within the limitations put upon him. Even in the 2006 year when he was named Exec of the Year, Minnesota fans put him down and kicked him around. Yet, when it looked like the Twins might be removed from the league, he turned down another job out of loyalty to the Twins and their fans. Usually, when he made a trade, it looked fair on paper. More often than not, these trades reloaded the team. You can say that was dumb luck, well thought out and researched work, or he screwed another GM over. In the Aj trade, the Twins had some indication that Liriano could be special but he had an injury plagued past. They had little idea how the rest of the guys would pan out. If he went around putting every other GM over a barrel, none of them would have talked to him.

If he's going, I'd wish him the very best and hope he did as good a job training his replacement as he did steering the team for twelve years.

[fishinphilth]

Well put Cicada

[Scott K]

I dont think the teams fate was on Ryans shoulders, I think it was Pohlads tight pockets. If Ryan had more $$ to play with I think this team would be one of the best. I think the twins did good this year by refraining on trading any young talent for a short term player, they knew we didnt have a good team, and to get a couple good swingers in the line up would have hurt the team down the road.

[Jorgie]

That was definitely not the announcement I was expecting.

I liked Ryan a lot and I think criticism of his style could be attributed to Pohlad's tight leash, like said before. Hopefully this Smith guy watched and learned a lot.

[PierBridge]

4 division titles in 6 years pretty darn good if you ask me.

I can't believe we didn't sign a bunch fre-agent superstars maybe we could have done something.....

[blue_healer_guy]

I guess if your satisfied with just divisional titles..

[UdeLakeTom]

Good reply...The Twins have been my favorite team since they moved here. We have had some bad years, and if this was a rebuilding year, without a left fielder until this month and no DH and all young pitchers, they haven't really had a bad year. Garrett Jones and Ro White just don't look like they can get it done. Well just wait until next year!!!

[bucketmouth64]

Only 52, he looks older than that. Maybe being the GM has aged him. I never doubted that Ryan was always trying to do the right thing to improve the team. I just think the Pohlad's really kept a tight string in what he could do. The Twins should be so fortunate to retain him to evaluate talent, which he has a keen eye for. With Ryan, Tom Kelly, and Paul Molitor, the Twins should be fortunate to have such class individuals evaluating young players and helping young players become major leaguers. I don't think other teams have as many well respected people helping behind the scenes. I really think the Pohlad's are hurting the franchise with their tight budget. They know what success felt like and what it did to their bottom line. Their blueprint to success lasted for awhile and now they have to re-evaluate it and make changes. As far as our minor league talent, I think they need to do better at drafting position players and maybe make minor league trades to get better quality.

[Bobby Bass]

I think a lot of fans are going to be missing him in the next few years. Unless he really will have some input behind the scenes. Good luck to him..

[CodyDawg]

Hats off to Hester for having the inside dope! Nice job!

[SledNeck]

Quote:

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Hats off to Hester for having the inside dope! Nice job!

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Just as long as they arent New Era hats!

[Eric Wettschreck]

This is a hit downward for the Twins. Terry Ryan was a great GM. He made very good deals with the tight purse strings he had to work with.

[Hester]

Thank you Codydawg, It makes a guy feel good to know some things before the big guys(and in this case I mean a really big guy) like La Velle E. Neal for the Star Tribune.

Terry was very good for this team, his hands were just tied to tight and with him knowing the fallout of what is to come when we do not sign Hunter or Santana. He is tired of taking the blame. It is wearing him out.

Hester

[Jorgie]

On Sports Center last night Buster Olney was saying that one reason Ryan stepped down was because he didn't want to break up the core group of guys that have had success the past few years. I assume that meant losing either Hunter, Santana, or both.

In any case, I'm glad he'll still be with the team. Who knows, maybe Smith will be a good change. I just hope that if this team wins it all in the next few years, people do not forget the contributions of people like TK and Ryan.

[deadminnowcatcher]

In my honest opinion this is a good thing and it had to happen. I think we are not being told the whole story. When Ryan was not able to make a deal for a hitter prior to the trade deadline, some players publicly were disapointed in Ryan. Ryan then publicly stated that he does not care what the guys in the clubhouse think. Wrong thing to say on Ryans part. As a leader you cannot say things like that. When this was said i thought to myself that either ryan is gone after this season or there is going to be a big shake up of the players on this team. Anyone that has any management training knows that you cannot say this about the people under you. I even heard the new guy comment tonight something about communicating better. I just feel this comment from ryan is what did him in. I think he was given a choice of quiting or stepping down

[Maximum12]

Yes, everything needs to be a conspiracy, right?

Lots of people who've slaved away at a demanding job for more than a decade decide to step back & enjoy the rest of their lives. CEOs, politicians, head coaches, the list goes on. I can understand that - too much time spent in any one pursuit, at the expense of anything else you might be doing with your spare time, will wear you down.

Ryan up front mentioned some mistakes & short-tempered remarks he'd made this season. I suspect his ill-advised comment about 'not caring what the players think' is one he was thinking of. What better way to gauge it's time to hit the door when the job that consumes your life stops being fun & starts being a burden?