Rob Antony's Audition

The Twins removed Ryan from the GM's chair just two weeks ahead of a pivotal trade deadline. In that same chair, he was amidst discussions and negotiations that had been percolating for weeks. The next 10 days could prove extremely important to the future of the franchise. Now, instead of a seasoned veteran highly familiar navigating with the deadline landscape, the burden falls to Rob Antony, who has virtually no experience in this top role.

The pressure Antony faces is immense. This is a job that he has eyed for much of his life. He has spent nearly 30 years climbing the ladder with this team. He stated earlier this week that he has always envisioned a day when Ryan would step aside on his own terms and recommend his longtime assistant as successor. Had things played out the way they were supposed to this year, that could have very well come to fruition.

Obviously, it isn't what happened. The club collapsed, Ryan was fired, and now Antony carries the dubious distinction of being next-in-command for this precarious regime. He finally has the job he has long coveted, but it's far from certain that he'll be able to keep it beyond the next two months.

Earlier this week in the Star Tribune, columnist Pat Reusse wrote that there is "zero chance" of Antony keeping the position long-term. If the premise of Reusse's piece is true, and the dismissal of Ryan was driven by PR considerations, then this only makes sense. Regardless of Antony's qualifications, installing him as the permanent replacement isn't going to excite or rejuvenate a wilting fan base. The Twins would need a splashy outside hire.

But, given the critical timing of Antony's installation as interim GM, along with the organization's aforementioned loyalty and preference for promoting from within, I have to believe that the 51-year-old is being given an opportunity to audition. Could he bolster his case with a few savvy moves leading up the deadline and beyond?

It's going to be tough to evaluate him on this basis, for a few reasons. First of all, the nature Minnesota's position as sellers means that any moves they make will involve swapping out veterans for prospects. Those deals are almost impossible to evaluate until several years down the line. Secondly, Antony is only picking up where Ryan left off. Very few deadline deals materialize out of nowhere in the final days of July. Seeds have been planted. Antony isn't really operating in full autonomy even though he now has the final say.

There were several interesting tidbits within La Velle E. Neal III's Q&A with Antony earlier this week. One that I found particularly noteworthy: Ryan advised, "You might get more action now than we did before because people are going to test you."

It's a side of this whole thing that I hadn't really considered. Ryan has always had a shrewd and conservative approach at the deadline, much to the dismay of action-hungry fans. Opposing general managers were undoubtedly reluctant to push him too hard, knowing where such efforts would end up.

Antony, though, is a different man. Perhaps he's more willing to pull the trigger. Perhaps that was even a part of the reasoning behind the switch. Will his desire to make a splash and distinguish himself compel him to be more active? Will opportunistic execs around the league seek to take advantage of the new guy? I'll be curious to see how this plays out.

One thing is for sure: he's being thrown right into the frying pan. The stakes for Antony and his career are as high as can be. How will the interim GM handle the task?