Alright, this is my first Blog post, lets get started. I got in an argument today with my good friend who has totally checked out on the twins the last few seasons. *lucky him! However, when we discuss everyone there is to blame for the last few season, he always comes back to Bill Smith.

My response for him: Its time to move on.

I will start this out by saying; I don't think Bill Smith made many positive baseball decisions for the MN Twins. However, when does the blame for his deficiencies start to transfer back onto Terry Ryan and this front office? This year? Next year? 2015? I really don't know the answer to that, but it has to come eventually. I think its pretty clear the ship has been righted in the minor leagues, but that can only fill my cup up to a point. The bread is buttered in the majors, and right now the front office is using I Cant Believe It's Not Butter. Didn't we deserve a better product to watch this season? I don't think it was Smith who lowered payroll the last few years by 30 million and change.

Was Bill Smith the right guy to take over for Terry Ryan when he stepped down? No. Absolutely he was not, that was proven to us time after time. However, where is the blame to the people who actually HIRED Smith in the first place. I know Ryan has made a lot of really good decisions for the franchise but he and the Twins brass really set Smith up to fail, and fail he did.

The Smith era is one many fans would love to forget, especially the last few years. He blew multiple trades, there is no doubt about that. However, when he took over it was stated he wasn't a "scout" like his predecessor was, and instead would be leaning on his top baseball people around him. Are those who were crucial in instructing Smith to make such deals still around? Overall this franchise had a total systematic failure that has set the franchise back for years, and its been a truly miserable few years. But did the last couple really have to be as bad as they were; I'd argue no. There have been opportunities for the front office to sell high on players and they seem to refuse to do so. There have been opportunities for the front office to keep the payroll closer to the 100 million level. Still that wouldn't guarantee success, but I can assure you it would be a better product on the field for us to watch the last few years. Bill Smiths fault? Not anymore, its time to move on.