9/29/14

The ball is on Terry Ryan's court: The aftermath of the firing of Ron Gardenhire by the Twins.

Today Terry Ryan held a press conference, in absentia Jim Pohlad & Dave St. Peter, who apparently had better things to do, to announce that Ron Gardenhire will not be returning as the Twins manager in 2015.   The news were so unusual that might be the reason that former Twins manager Tom Kelly suffered a minor stroke today (best wishes Tom.)  Ron Gardenhire's dismissal was long overdue.  It should had happened after the 2006 post-season.  And, as I indicated previously,  I felt that it was done deal at least a month ago.

There are a few strange things about this and I don't think that they are coincidental:
  • The Twins' owner and president were not around in the press conference
  • Gardenhire was and allegedly was offered a position within the organization (rumors that it is for the roving grouch instructor are not substantiated.)
  • There was no word about his coaches, however their contacts are all expired and no renewals were announced and it looks like they are all gone, pending new manager's whim.
  • When asked, Ryan said that he knows what type of manager he wants (and went to a great detail describing characteristics) but admitted that he has no list of candidates.
  • The kicker is that Terry Ryan was adamant and on the record as late as 8/22 saying that Gardenhire will be back
This does not seem like a General Manager who a. wanted to do this and was ready to do it,  b. has the support of his bosses (who did not even bother attending) and c. is facing a serious health issue.  If Gardenhire's firing was demanded and imposed by Ryan's bosses recently, several things could be explained (especially his unpreparedness for a replacement.)  However,  no matter what, Ryan looks like a liar right now.  I would not be surprised if Terry Ryan resigns shortly, before he names a manager and this will probably be better for both him and the Twins. 

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Are you planning to do an update with corrections? You need to.
First, Tom Kelly suffered the mild stroke on Friday, not today.
Second, Jim Pohlad and Dave St. Peter were out on business (Pohlad reported to be in Houston for a court appearance.) Terry Ryan made clear that both were not "ducking the news conference" and would be available later today for contact with the media.
Third, both Ryan and Gardenhire said he had been offered a job, just not specific about what it would be and Gardenhire was not sure he would accept.
Fourth, it is too early to announce a list of candidates!
Fifth, local sports media members at the presser followed up on this and Ryan admitted he "made a mistake" in August, called Pohlad the day after to say so, and today said he was wrong to say that then and said "I have bosses". (Remember is was to one reporter - Sid - who had that exclusive scoop.)

I happen to agree it was long past time for Gardenhire to go, but your blog post on this is not credible. It is not really difficult to follow the primary sports guys in the MSP media market. They were all there today (and I saw it live on FSN, so also know what was said, including tone, body language, etc.)

thrylos98 said...

Lots of excuses in what you are saying and opinions (that differ from mine) and not facts. The only facts are: Pohlad and St. Peter were absent, Ryan said that Gardy will be here next year and what happened today. I don't care about coverups and excuses. Sorry

Marv said...

I am mostly pleased by this announcement because it means Rick Anderson will not be back. If Gardy had hired better coaches I believe we would have had a better team.

Unfortunately, I think hiring better coaches would have been pretty easy to do.
I truly believe his biggest fault was that his loyalty to his staff was greater than his loyalty to the Pohlads, the Twins fans, and the players themselves.

thrylos98 said...

Marv,
I agree. There were a lot of things that Gardenhire did wrong. To what you are saying, I would have to add the atrocious record in August and September each of the past seasons and the post season record. Those are signs of teams that give up and that is 100% on the manager and his buddies/coaches.