Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
August 13, 2007
Twins Won't Win

Aaron Gleeman writes off the Twins, and lays the blame at the feet of Terry Ryan:

With an eye that's clearly pointed toward the future and a mindset that's always locked at conservative, Ryan failed to adequately prepare this team by wasting money on misguided attempts to fill spots that didn't need filling and simultaneously neglecting spots that were screaming for help. It now seems likely that the Twins will wind up a handful of games out of the playoffs in a year when Hunter, Mauer, Cuddyer, and Morneau have been outstanding and the pitching staff is among the league's best.

If that happens, Ryan's inability to provide offensive depth while putting the team in another early hole behind more veteran mediocrity will prove to be the difference. Many people will no doubt see a young team that was within striking distance of making the playoffs and simply write this off as a rebuilding year, but somewhere between Ortiz, Ponson, and the never-ending stream of plate appearances being wasted on weak bats are those handful of wins that could have put the Twins back into the playoffs.

Terry Ryan was baffling this season. As a GM known for building his team from a great farm system, he ignored the young starters on the farm to go with two veterans in the rotation with little left in the tank. On top of that, the offensive talent appeared to dry up, as no one was available to provide new offense at weak positions on the team. It appears that Ryan can build a good system when his team is losing and choices are early in the draft. The trick is keeping that farm system fresh while still winning, something that very few teams pull off.

Correction: Fixed a typo.


Posted by David Pinto at 08:49 AM | Team Evaluation | TrackBack (0)
Comments

Sorry to sound cynical, but Ryan's real fault is that his team isn't in the right league. The Twins are an almost perfectly .500 team, based on both their actual record and their run diff. A .500 record would put you just 4 1/2 out of the NL wild card, or three out of the NL Central. A hot couple weeks - which can happen to just about any team - could then get you into the postseason.

Unfortunately, Ryan's team plays in a league with some good teams. So while clueless bloggers rip Ryan, a lot of GM's in the parity league get off with relatively little criticism.

Posted by: Casey Abell at August 13, 2007 10:30 AM

too=two eh? You right well English to! Does this make you a "worthless" righter?

Posted by: Zippercat at August 14, 2007 12:04 PM

Actually, I said "clueless" but that's a quibble. Anyhoo, it seems silly to rip Ryan for producing a team that's league-average and would be contending in the NL, especially after his record of success in preceding years. It's not like he's completely loused up the Twins. Or even loused them up very much.

Posted by: Casey Abell at August 14, 2007 12:46 PM
Post a comment









Remember personal info?