Terry Ryan PMKI in the SABR

[Thrylos]

Gems from Rob Neyer's twitter covering Ryans' speech. Actual quotes:

 

"I don't have the education. I don't have the intellect. I don't have the computer skills."

 

Ryan says Twins have struggled in Dominican Republic, and that it's his fault

 

"I haven't fixed a thing. We're exactly where we were last year."

 

This indicates to me that it is about time for the interim to resign and the Twins to actually get a GM who has the intellect, education and skills, to clear house on the organization from the top to the bottom and have this team compete in the 21st century.

 

About freaking time...

[Brock Beauchamp]

Actually, I give him credit for acknowledging weakness. Nobody knows everything. It takes a smart man to know when he's out of his league and that people should be hired to compensate for his shortcomings.

 

This is a perfect example of the Dunning-Kruger Effect at work. By saying these things, Ryan is proving that he's actually not stupid.

[Mauerzy4Prez]

I guess I see a lot of holes in this post. Seems like any time you take quotes and chose what to report, there is a lot of room for things to be taken out of context. Can we have more details regarding when this speech was given, a full version? Not saying I disagree that these lines are slightly alarming, however I think we owe it to the guy to at least see the full story. As of right now Thrylos, this just looks like you cut and pasted lines out of a Terry Ryan speech, to make the guy look incompetent and have an excuse to call for his head.

[gunnarthor]

SABR announced that they will be giving Ryan their Roland Hemond Award which "recognizes the baseball executive who has demonstrated a lifetime commitment to professional baseball scouts and scouting, and player development history" in 2013.

[Mike Sixel]

Look, we all know they just don't like data and stats. Gardy has said it (see the article in the Pioneer Press today), Rob Antony has said it lat year, Ryan has said it. This team just doesn't believe in math and science, that's by their own admission. I have never understood people that resist the forward motion of knowledge, and I don't understand the Twins' insistence that somehow being ignorant in the use of math and science to predict outcomes (which is pretty much the entire point of math) is a good thing to be defended and be proud of. Like, do they still use corded phones and typewriters? Do they use medicine?

[Thrylos]

Actually, I give him credit for acknowledging weakness. Nobody knows everything. It takes a smart man to know when he's out of his league and that people should be hired to compensate for his shortcomings.

 

This is a perfect example of the Dunning-Kruger Effect at work. By saying these things, Ryan is proving that he's actually not stupid.

He is not stupid. But he in so many words acknowledged that a. he did a crappy job and b. he is not up to par with modern analysis to do his job.

 

Time to go.

[fetch]

He is not stupid. But he in so many words acknowledged that a. he did a crappy job and b. he is not up to par with modern analysis to do his job.

 

Time to go.

I think so too. He can keep scouting since that's obviously what he loves and does best, but it's time to get a CEO type guy in the GM spot.

[Vervehound]

Look, we all know they just don't like data and stats. Gardy has said it (see the article in the Pioneer Press today), Rob Antony has said it lat year, Ryan has said it. This team just doesn't believe in math and science, that's by their own admission. I have never understood people that resist the forward motion of knowledge, and I don't understand the Twins' insistence that somehow being ignorant in the use of math and science to predict outcomes (which is pretty much the entire point of math) is a good thing to be defended and be proud of. Like, do they still use corded phones and typewriters? Do they use medicine?

you can say all you want about the twins shortcomings as an organization, but if one of our players came down with bubonic plague, there is no field staff in baseball more prepared to give him a blood letting or the proper poultice.

[DPJ]

I really don't think Ryan wants to do this anymore (being GM) He's a dinosaur in this business and he either is too old, too uneducated or just don't want to adapt.

 

If the Pohlads can't see this then God help this franchise.

[Highabove]

The Pohlad's first concern is making money. As long as they do that, they will not make any changes.

 

Even with a large attendance drop, the Pohlad's are set up to make a nice profit.

[CDog]

I don't know what Terry Ryan knows or wants to know or doesn't know about math or statistics. (I would suspect that is also true of almost everyone posting here.) I do know that anyone with sense can realize that the first quote has virtually nothing to do with Terry Ryan and almost everything to do with his audience and the forum in which it was said.

[powrwrap]

it's time to get a CEO type guy in the GM spot.

You mean a businessman type or a lawyer? No thanks. Give me a guy that can spot talent over a guy that knows how to find loopholes in contracts and amortize money.

[fetch]

You mean a businessman type or a lawyer? No thanks. Give me a guy that can spot talent over a guy that knows how to find loopholes in contracts and amortize money.

I mean a guy who is smart enough to hire guys to cover his deficiencies. Running a club isn't a one man job anymore.

[spideyo]

uhh...Terry Ryan has a huge team of scouts, analysts, and assistants across the world. He's not doing it all himself, he's just the only guy giving soundbites.

 

Now, could they make upgrades to his support staff? Of course! But he's been focused more on trying to fix the team on the field first.

 

And I think he was made interim GM because they knew they needed Bill Smith out of the role, and couldn't afford to take the time to do an exhaustive search for a new GM. After this season, who knows? It's quite possible that there are already candidate lists being made, behind the scenes conversations being had. Personally, I'd rather them have Terry Ryan as a stop gap measure to at least keep the ship from sinking entirely while they actually take the time to evaluate and find the BEST permanent guy, rather than them just immediately signing the first guy they could find outside the organization and throw him right into the mess Bill Smith made.

 

 

And Bill Smith IS a businessman type. That didn't work out so well.

[DaveW]

Gems from Rob Neyer's twitter covering Ryans' speech. Actual quotes:

 

"I don't have the education. I don't have the intellect. I don't have the computer skills."

 

Ryan says Twins have struggled in Dominican Republic, and that it's his fault

 

"I haven't fixed a thing. We're exactly where we were last year."

 

This indicates to me that it is about time for the interim to resign and the Twins to actually get a GM who has the intellect, education and skills, to clear house on the organization from the top to the bottom and have this team compete in the 21st century.

 

About freaking time...

What exactly were those quotes in reference to? I highly doubt the question asked were "Can you handle being a GM and his answer was that he lacks the intelligence or some other B.S."

 

Ryan has his faults no doubt, but its hard to knock his past success as the Twins GM and even his recent success this past off-season. Smith is the one who took a perennial division winning team and turned them into a last place team.

 

However with that said, I'd be interested to see just how long Ryan is committed to be the Twins GM, the interim label always had me skeptical, if he plans on being around for the next 3+ years than I say keep him around, however if its just a 1-2 year type thing for him its probably better to grab someone sooner than later now that the team is rebuilding.

[ChuckkJay]

I am always curious if Thrylos is really a Twins fan. If you really are, WHY? I've not read a single thing from you that's positive; it seems you dislike everything about the organization. What is it about the Twins that keeps you interested?

 

I'm all for balanced evaluation and critique of the Twins, but that's not what we get from Thrylos.

[Boom Boom]

Smith is the one who took a perennial division winning team and turned them into a last place team.

 

Smith was a bad GM, no doubt. But he's a scapegoat.

[DaveW]

Smith was a bad GM, no doubt. But he's a scapegoat.

How is he a scapegoat? Not one deal outside of the Scott Diamond pick up was a good move on his part.

The Gomez for Hardy trade is a wash because he turned around and traded Hardy for Hoey!

[fetch]

uhh...Terry Ryan has a huge team of scouts, analysts, and assistants across the world. He's not doing it all himself, he's just the only guy giving soundbites.

 

 

 

I'm sure you can't swear on here, so I'll just say no poop.

[Boom Boom]

How is he a scapegoat? Not one deal outside of the Scott Diamond pick up was a good move on his part.

The Gomez for Hardy trade is a wash because he turned around and traded Hardy for Hoey!

Because the Twins tailspin into oblivion is more complicated than that. Smith is a scapegoat because he's a big part of the organizational failure, but in no way is he solely responsible.

 

Ryan drafted poorly in his last few years before resigning. And he was special advisor to Smith during his tenure. Ryan had the cache in the organization to question Smith's moves. Smith was GM at the time, but Ryan's hands are not clean of this mess.

 

Also... Smith did sign Thome, and traded Yohan Pino for Carl Pavano.

[DaveW]

Because the Twins tailspin into oblivion is more complicated than that. Smith is a scapegoat because he's a big part of the organizational failure, but in no way is he solely responsible.

 

Ryan drafted poorly in his last few years before resigning. And he was special advisor to Smith during his tenure. Ryan had the cache in the organization to question Smith's moves. Smith was GM at the time, but Ryan's hands are not clean of this mess.

 

Also... Smith did sign Thome, and traded Yohan Pino for Carl Pavano.

Ryan was and may still be one of the better GM's around, Bill Smith's tenure was nothing short of awful/poor.

 

Wilson Ramos for Matt Capps. Need I say any more?

[Seth Stohs]

Yeah, these were some interesting quotes hand-picked out of context. Self-deprecating is a good thing... Terry Ryan has proven he can handle this job. He's made good moves this year. We all know that this isn't a one-year fix. He's good.

[Boom Boom]

Ryan was and may still be one of the better GM's around, Bill Smith's tenure was nothing short of awful/poor.

 

Wilson Ramos for Matt Capps. Need I say any more?

I'm not disagreeing that Smith was awful.

 

My point is that Ryan DID have something to do with how awful Smith was and how awful the Twins have been for the last two years. Ryan's not innocent, and Smith isn't completely to blame.

[gunnarthor]

Wilson Ramos for Matt Capps. Need I say any more?

By bWAR, Capps has been equal to Wilson since the trade.

[DPJ]

By bWAR, Capps has been equal to Wilson since the trade.

Don't you dare try to excuse that abomination of a move.

 

NTM the that equal WAR has cost the Twins about 13 million while it's cost the Nats 400K.

[DPJ]

Smith was a bad GM, no doubt. But he's a scapegoat.

Exactly, Smith didn't have awful drafts one after the other.

 

No doubt Smith made some bad moves, but IMO Deron Johnson has done more harm to this franchise to Smith.

[Mr. Ed]

No doubt Smith made some bad moves, but IMO Deron Johnson has done more harm to this franchise to Smith.

 

 

 

Agreed. He's been in charge of the drafts. Needs some of the blame.

[TwinVike61]

I'd rather them have Terry Ryan as a stop gap measure to at least keep the ship from sinking entirely...

...or to keep them from trading valuable players for magic beans and shiny trinkets.

[gunnarthor]

Don't you dare try to excuse that abomination of a move.

 

NTM the that equal WAR has cost the Twins about 13 million while it's cost the Nats 400K.

Perhaps, but I think it's fun to point out WAR's valuations in a thread where people are angry that the Twins (seemingly) aren't into advanced stats like WAR.

[Mike Sixel]

Despite the complete lack of difference making or even league average players coming up from the majors in 3+ years, Seth is still a believer in Terry Ryan. The lack of young players in the majors is on the time from when Ryan was GM. So far, he's made a couple of nice, stop gap signings and decided a cheaper, better, younger willingham was better than Cuddeyer. But that's it. This team is the same bad, underachieiving, poorly run when it comes to injuries team it was last year. If you don't change things, things don't genearlly change.