Minnesota Twins: Terry Ryan’s Gone, Now What?
The shocking news regarding long-time General Manager Terry Ryan’s dismissal leaves with it plenty of questions surrounding the future of the Minnesota Twins.
Without question, the young core of Byron Buxton, Max Kepler, Miguel Sano and Jose Berrios seem to be the future franchise stalwarts while everyone from Phil Hughes to All-Star Eduardo Nunez find their future with the club in question.
Some writers even believe the likes of Brian Dozier could be moved.
While I disagree with this because I don’t believe the Minnesota Twins to be the baseball-version of the Titanic that most say, I will say this move could bring with it a lot of changes moving forward.
More from Puckett's Pond
- Minnesota Twins: After signing with the Mets, Correa spurns Twins again
- Minnesota Twins: You Spin Me Right Round, Right Round
- Minnesota Twins: What happens next at Shortstop?
- Minnesota Twins: Grading the Twins’ Joey Gallo signing
- Minnesota Twins: 4 Possible Trade Chips not named Kepler or Arraez
Namely is the future of Paul Molitor.
Sure, Jim Pohlad said the second-year manager will be back in 2017, I can’t imagine Molitor would survive another season such as this one.
Next up is the remaining coaching staff.
Tom Brunansky and Neil Allen have all taken their fair share of criticism for the poor performance of both the pitching and offense and the pressure might be on Molitor and new GM Rob Antony to find a quick fix.
The fact is, you can’t expect success without having players who will perform better than what these coaches have been given but at the end of the day, it’s easier to blame one guy over multiple.
Between the two of them, I would expect Allen to be let go before Brunansky.
Next is the unavoidable roster shakeup.
I’ve pondered in the past whether trading away Ervin Santana, Trevor Plouffe, Kurt Suzuki or Nunez would be wise.
While each could fetch some nice loot for the Minnesota Twins, what the front office will have to decide is if they move these players, what does that mean for the future?
Moving these four plus any combination of Ricky Nolasco, Eddie Rosario, Hughes or Dozier would essentially mean the Minnesota Twins are going into full-on rebuild mode.
With the young guys up, it’d be easy to say this is the obvious answer but you have to hold onto some veteran leadership if you want to take a step in the right direction.
Guys like Plouffe, Suzuki and Dozier fit in the leadership role that the young core would need.
Perhaps this is why Ryan was let go. Or perhaps it’s because of the constant struggles under his watch.
We may not know for sure anytime soon but a potential change in philosophy could mean we see a very different Minnesota Twins team in 2017.
What pressure will Pohlad put on Antony? It will be interesting to see and our first real look at how things might turn out should be coming soon in the form of the trade deadline.