Pohlad, like Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor, operates with no script and virtually no filter. Yet it was astounding to see the Twins, with the worst pitching in baseball, failing to choose a pitcher among their first four picks in last month’s amateur draft — the same draft where the Mets, with one of baseball’s strongest rotations, grabbed pitchers in the first and compensation rounds.
They need fresh, critical eyes, and it’s clear Pohlad felt Ryan — still popular in and out of the Twins organization for his integrity and character — wasn’t the guy to do it.This makes two general managers Pohlad has fired since his father Carl died in 2009, and Ryan might not be the only executive on his way out. It pains me to write all this because Ryan is one of the best people I’ve ever dealt with in sports — available, accountable, never pointing fingers, always the first to accept blame for failures. The Twins Way — hiring interns and entry-level associates, then promoting them up the ladder — no longer works because baseball has changed, and the Twins failed to change with it.Pick a trend, and the Twins swung late on it: Drafting tall, hard-throwing pitchers; betting big on players in Latin America; signing middle infielders out of the Dominican Republic, which develops tons of them (I talked to a longtime scout two weeks ago who boasted, “I can find ten shortstops in the D.R.
Still, his teams … Explore Life Stories, Offer Condolences & Send Flowers. Technically they have to have the skills and strength and so forth, and have to have the willingness to look an organization and make hard decisions, or come up with ways for improvement.”The Twins certainly don’t need another Dan Duquette, who alienated his employees, his players, other general managers and the media while bringing the Red Sox back from the dregs of the American League in the 1990s and early 2000s. Joining Pohlad and St. Peter for Monday’s meeting with reporters at Target Field was nephew Joe Pohlad, Bob’s son, who heads Go Media, the family broadcast arm. The Twins’ failure last winter to acquire a veteran Latino to mentor the Sanos, the Rosarios, and the Santanas was a critical mistake the next G.M. Joining Pohlad and St. Peter for Monday’s meeting with reporters at Target Field was nephew Joe Pohlad, Bob’s son, who heads Go Media, the family broadcast arm.
But whoever it is can make any changes they want except with the manager, since Pohlad told Paul Molitor he’s coming back next year.Understand now why the Twins banned television cameras from Monday’s “informal” roundtable with Pohlad and team president Dave St. Peter? And nothing should be. Pohlad and St. Peter informed assistant general manager Rob Antony he was taking over during Sunday’s game, and then told Molitor after it, just before the team left for Detroit. But in almost 30 years of covering major-league baseball in Boston, New York and here, I’ve never heard a single nasty, demeaning remark about Ryan.
According to 2008 rankings by Forbes.com, Pohlad’s net worth of $3.6 billion was second among Minnesotans and 102nd in the nation. He answers questions with brutal honesty and flippant humor; hence, his assessment to the Star Tribune of this season as “total system failure” — a terrific line that perfectly captured the mess we’ve been watching. But the last thing the Twins needed this week was another off-handed remark playing on an endless video loop on ESPN.“When we had the all-staff meeting, you can see how loved Terry is by our organization,” Pohlad said. Hunter tried to impart that lesson to Hicks here but it didn’t stick. “If I had to pick one requirement for somebody going forward, it’s someone that’s lovable. It’s long past the time for the Twins to examine and overhaul the baseball end of things.
Baseball is a notoriously catty industry. The only way you can be loved is if you’re lovable. Calvin Griffith Died At The Age Of 87. A lot of clubs are like this, and it’s generally not that big a deal: You trade your hitting surplus to fill in around the holes in your pitching staff. Our reporters are only able to do their work thanks to support at all levels.
They speak different languages. It’s hard to remember the last time the Twins did something original or innovative. By his age-30 season in 2013, Mauer could boast six All-Star appearances, an MVP trophy, three Gold Gloves, and four Silver Sluggers, and was widely considered an elite catcher. According to the executive, a generation gap exists between the young guns and older G.M.s like Ryan and Sandy Alderson of the Mets that makes baseball conversation difficult. So many of today’s general managers come from analytics backgrounds, not scouting and development backgrounds.