It is informed and reasonable because there was a similar situation with Miguel Cabrera. (Radcliff involved, Twins one of only a handful of teams, etc.) We also have a long history of penny-pinching roster building. You don't have to like it, but part of what helps Ryan avoid Hardy for Hoey deals or other huge mistakes is that he is deliberately conservative. It's just what he is. It's part of what makes him a very good GM in fact. But it also has drawbacks and situations like the one involving signing Sano are not where I feel most comfortable with him in charge. Hell, it took him awhile with Target Field revenues to even push his own tendencies in FA. It's just not who Terry Ryan is, for good and for bad. And I like Ryan as a GM, I think he's pretty good, but I'm not delusional about him breaking the bank for an international free agent like Sano. You get me a Delorean and Doc Brown and I'll take any bet that Sano signs elsewhere with Ryan in charge. I don't understand the need to praise Ryan for what he does well, but also delude ourselves about his weaknesses. People seem invariably to fall in one camp or the other. Unless you think the man is some kind of pinnacle of perfection or some kind of troll meant to torment us, it'd be nice if we took him for what he is - very conservative. Sometimes that's good, sometimes it's not.