One might have said the same thing about Ryan's decision on Miguel Cabrera way back when. People are making this about just Gonzalez, but this particular situation is symptomatic of 15 or so years of timid behavior towards risks. You bring up a lot of good points, but I think you missed Reusse's point. The Twins, regardless of resources available, regardless of talent available, regardless of team needs, and regardless of the avenue (FA, international FA, trading for established players) - just do not take risks under Ryan. That's what "timid" means. They have been totally unwilling to go outside of the narrow box they have put themselves in for team building and take chances. I think we have almost 15 years of evidence supporting this claim. It's not a reach at all.