If you're attempting to mind-read the man, that's not a good idea. If you're claiming any GM aims for mediocrity, that's not a good idea either. [Consider this part to be a moderator mini-note.] If you're going by his own words, he has stated that five+ year contracts to pitchers are a problem. One can infer that he means this in contrast to batters. If you're going by past history, we're only a few years into the Target Field revenue era and Ryan's portion of it, and the team is only now becoming competitive again.