- Terry Ryan (baseball)
Terry Ryan (born
October 26 ,1953 in Janesville,Wisconsin [cite web|url=http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/execdb/showperson.php?idx=RyanTe01&fname=Terry&lname=Ryan
publisher=Baseball America
title=Executive Database: Terry Ryan
accessdate=2006-08-23] ) is a former general manager for theMinnesota Twins . Ryan is well known for using a low payroll and building up theminor 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.Early life and career
Ryan attended
George S. Parker High School in Janesville, and was drafted in the 35th round by theMinnesota Twins in 1972.cite news
url=http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2007/sep/13/twins_ryan_steps_down_gm_smith_takes_over/?sports
title=Twins' Ryan steps down as GM; Smith takes over
date=2007-09-13
work=Naples Daily News
accessdate=2007-09-13]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.
Team administration career
After graduating from the
University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1979, with a degree inphysical education , Ryan quickly earned respect as an evaluator of talent in baseball. In 1980, theNew 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 ManagerAndy MacPhail . When MacPhail left for theChicago 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 , andKevin 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 theArizona Diamondbacks , who gave him a $10 million signing bonus. (Fortunately for the Twins, Lee has proven to be a below-average journeyman hitter.)Success as General Manager
Things started looking up for Ryan only a couple of months later, when he traded veteran
Dave Hollins to theSeattle Mariners for a player to be named later. On September 31, the Mariners sentDavid 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 wasRoberto Kelly forJoe Mays . In 1998, he sent the disgruntledChuck Knoblauch to theNew York Yankees for four players, including two future all-stars: shortstopCristian Guzman and pitcherEric Milton . In 1999, he again unloadedRick Aguilera and received future starterKyle Lohse . At the end of the year, he traded for futureCy Young Award winnerJohan Santana , who was picked up in theRule 5 Draft by theFlorida Marlins from theHouston Astros . In July 2001, the Twins traded outfielderMatt Lawton to theNew York Mets for pitcher Rick Reed.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 theSan 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 favoredOakland Athletics in the2002 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". [cite web |url = http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/min/history/timeline5.jsp |title = TWINS TIMELINE |accessdate=2007-09-13 |work =MLB.com ]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 2003, when he sent popular catcherA.J. Pierzynski to the San Francisco Giants, gaining closerJoe Nathan , starting pitcherFrancisco Liriano , and a second consistent starter inBoof Bonser . Another strong trade occurred a month later, when Ryan sent starterEric Milton to thePhiladelphia Phillies for starterCarlos Silva and infielderNick Punto . His most recent trades affecting the current team were in December 2005, when he received second baseman Luis Castillo from theFlorida Marlins for two minor leaguers. He also traded unpredictable pitcherJ.C. Romero to theLos Angeles Angels of Anaheim forAlexi Casilla .Stepping down
On
September 13 ,2007 , it was announced that Ryan would be stepping down as general manager for the Twins after 12 seasons.cite web |url = http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-twins-ryan&prov=ap&type=lgns |title = Twins GM Terry Ryan resigns after 13 seasons, stays on as adviser |last = Campbell |first = Dave |date=2007-09-13 |accessdate=2007-09-14 |work =Yahoo! Sports | publisher =Associated Press ] He will be replaced by assistant general manager Bill Smith, but will remain in the Twins organization as a senior adviser.Notable trades
*July 6, 1995: Traded closer
Rick Aguilera to theBoston Red Sox for pitcher Frank Rodriguez and a player to be named later. The Twins were able to re-sign Aguilera on December 11.
*July 7, 1995: Traded pitcherScott Erickson to theBaltimore Orioles for pitcherScott Klingenbeck and a player to be named later.
*July 31, 1995: Traded picthersKevin Tapani andMark Guthrie to theLos Angeles Dodgers for infielderRon Coomer , pitchersGreg Hansell andJose Parra , and a player to be named later. The Dodgers sent outfielder Chris Latham to the Twins on October 30 to complete the trade.
*August 29, 1996: TradedDave Hollins to theSeattle Mariners for a player to be named later. On September 31, the Mariners sentDavid Ortiz to the Twins to complete the trade.
*August 20, 1997: TradedRoberto Kelly to theSeattle Mariners for players to be named later. On October 9, the Mariners sent the Twins future all-starJoe Mays and a minor leaguer to complete the deal.
*February 16, 1998: Traded second basemanChuck Knoblauch to theNew York Yankees in exchange for outfielderBrian Buchanan , shortstopCristian Guzman , pitcherEric Milton , pitcher Danny Mota, and cash.
*May 21, 1999: TradedRick Aguilera and Scott Downs to the Chicago Cubs for pitchersKyle Lohse and Jay Ryan.
*December 13, 1999: Under theRule 5 Draft , the Twins sent minor leaguer Jared Camp and cash to the Florida Marlins in exchange for future Cy Young Award winnerJohan Santana .
*September 9, 2000: Traded pitcherHector Carrasco to theBoston Red Sox for outfielderLew Ford .
*July 30, 2001: Traded outfielderMatt Lawton to theNew York Mets for pitcher Rick Reed.
*July 12, 2002: TradedBrian Buchanan to theSan Diego Padres for shortstop Jason Bartlett.
*July 16, 2003: TradedBobby Kielty to theToronto Blue Jays for Shannon Stewart.
*November 14, 2003: Traded catcherA.J. Pierzynski and cash to theSan Francisco Giants . Received pitchersJoe Nathan ,Francisco Liriano , andBoof Bonser .
*December 3, 2003: Traded pitcherEric Milton to thePhiladelphia Phillies for pitcherCarlos Silva , infielderNick Punto , and a player to be named later (Bobby Korecky ).
*December 2, 2005: TradedTravis Bowyer andScott Tyler to theFlorida Marlins for second baseman Luis Castillo.
*December 9, 2005: TradedJ.C. Romero to theLos Angeles Angels of Anaheim for infielderAlexi Casilla .
*July 30, 2007: Traded second baseman Luis Castillo to theNew York Mets for minor league prospectsDrew Butera (catcher) andDustin Martin (center fielder).References
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