Terry Ryan (baseball)

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Terry Ryan (born October 26, 1953 in Janesville, Wisconsin[1]) is a former general manager for the Minnesota Twins. Ryan is well known for using a low payroll and building up the minor league system to put up contending teams. At a Minneapolis press conference on Thursday, September 13, 2007, Ryan announced that he will step down from the GM position, effective October 1, 2007. He will stay on as a talent adviser.

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[edit] Early life and career

Ryan attended George S. Parker High School in Janesville, and was drafted in the 35th round by the Minnesota Twins in 1972.[2]

[edit] Playing career

Ryan pitched briefly in the Twins organization in the mid-70s. His playing career started with promise: Ryan posted a 10-0 record and 1.70 ERA in 43 games at Class A Wisconsin Rapids in 1973. However, he subsequently battled injuries and was released by the Twins' AA team in June 1976.

[edit] Team administration career

After graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1979, with a degree in physical education[2], Ryan quickly earned respect as an evaluator of talent in baseball. In 1980, the New York Mets hired him as a scout. He spent six seasons as a scout for the Mets before the Twins again showed interest in him. The team hired him as scouting director, a position he held for six years. He was then promoted to vice president and player personnel director under General Manager Andy MacPhail. When MacPhail left for the Chicago Cubs in 1994, Ryan was chosen to replace him.

Ryan's organization relies heavily on constant scouting and analysis of every player in major and minor league baseball. As a result, the team has made some startling and at the time questioned acquisitions of players who turned out to be drastically underrated and who became star players in the Twins organization.

Ryan had the unenviable task of succeeding MacPhail, architect of the Twins' 1987 and 1991 world champion teams. Ryan would endure losing seasons until 2001, but his trades turned out to have the future in mind. In 2002, the Twins began a sequence of winning their division.

His early years as GM had several lowlights. For example, during the 1995 season, he was forced to unload several high-priced veterans when the team was not contending. The unloaded veterans included Rick Aguilera, Scott Erickson, Mark Guthrie, and Kevin Tapani. To make matters worse, the prospects he received in these trades did not pan out. In particular, Scott Klingenbeck and Frank Rodriguez were expected to be solid major league players. Instead, they were busts who did not last in the majors.

In 1996, Ryan botched the signing of first baseman Travis Lee during the amateur draft. Lee exploited a never-before used clause that allows a draft pick to become a free agent if a team doesn't make an offer within 15 days of the draft. After the Twins failed to do this, Lee left for the Arizona Diamondbacks, who gave him a $10 million signing bonus. (Fortunately for the Twins, Lee has proven to be a below-average journeyman hitter.)

[edit] Success as General Manager

Things started looking up for Ryan only a couple of months later, when he traded veteran Dave Hollins to the Seattle Mariners for a player to be named later. On September 31, the Mariners sent David Ortiz to the Twins to complete the trade. (Unfortunately for the Twins, Ortiz would not show MVP-caliber numbers until he left the Twins a few years later.) Similarly, in August 1997, Ryan unloaded another aging veteran for a future all-star. This time it was Roberto Kelly for Joe Mays. In 1998, he sent the disgruntled Chuck Knoblauch to the New York Yankees for four players, including two future all-stars: shortstop Cristian Guzman and pitcher Eric Milton. In 1999, he again unloaded Rick Aguilera and received future starter Kyle Lohse. At the end of the year, he traded for future Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana, who was picked up in the Rule 5 Draft by the Florida Marlins from the Houston Astros. In July 2001, the Twins traded outfielder Matt Lawton to the New York Mets for pitcher Rick Reed.

[edit] Postseason success

Ryan has continued making strong trades that enable the team to remain competitive. For example, in July 2002, he traded little-used outfielder Brian Buchanan (also acquired in the Knoblauch trade) to the San Diego Padres for Jason Bartlett, now with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. That year, the team made the postseason for the first time since the 1991 World Champion team and defeated the heavily favored Oakland Athletics in the 2002 American League Division Series. After the 2002 season, the Twins organization was named Organization of the Year by Baseball America and SportsTicker, while Ryan was named Executive of the Year by The Sporting News.[3]

In 2003, Ryan swapped outfielder Bobby Kielty for accomplished veteran leadoff hitter Shannon Stewart. This move is credited with jump-starting the team and enabling them to repeat as division champions. Ryan's greatest recent trade was in November of 2003, when he sent popular catcher A.J. Pierzynski to the San Francisco Giants, gaining closer Joe Nathan, starting pitcher Francisco Liriano, and a second consistent starter in Boof Bonser. Another strong trade occurred a month later, when Ryan sent starter Eric Milton to the Philadelphia Phillies for starter Carlos Silva and infielder Nick Punto. His most recent trades affecting the current team were in December 2005, when he received second baseman Luis Castillo from the Florida Marlins for two minor leaguers. He also traded unpredictable pitcher J.C. Romero to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for Alexi Casilla.

[edit] Stepping down

On September 13, 2007, it was announced that Ryan would be stepping down as general manager for the Twins after 12 seasons.[4] He will be replaced by assistant general manager Bill Smith, but will remain in the Twins organization as a senior adviser.[4]

[edit] Notable trades

Preceded by
Andy MacPhail		 Minnesota Twins General Manager
1994-2007		 Succeeded by
Bill Smith

[edit] References

  1. ^ Executive Database: Terry Ryan. Baseball America. Retrieved on 2006-08-23.
  2. ^ a b "Twins' Ryan steps down as GM; Smith takes over", Naples Daily News, 2007-09-13. Retrieved on 2007-09-13. 
  3. ^ TWINS TIMELINE. MLB.com. Retrieved on 2007-09-13.
  4. ^ a b Campbell, Dave (2007-09-13). Twins GM Terry Ryan resigns after 13 seasons, stays on as adviser. Yahoo! Sports. Associated Press. Retrieved on 2007-09-14.