Last week I had the opportunity to have a nice little conversation with Terry Ryan of the Minnesota Twins. This wasn't your normal interview. In fact, I'm not at all exaggerating when I say this really felt like a couple of friends getting together to just talk over coffee. Ryan has a soothing quality about him, something you generally don't encounter in high level baseball executives, especially when they talk with out of town members of the media.

Terry called me about 30 minutes earlier than I expected, but I was looking forward to the meeting so the early start was no bother.

Since it was Wednesday afternoon, the afternoon of the Hall of Fame press conference, the ballot tally was fresh on my mind. I immediately asked Ryan what his thoughts were on Bert Blyleven missing the Hall once again. Terry responded with heartfelt emotion. "I'm really sorry he didn't make it," said Ryan. "I'm equally surprised as well. This is a big week for us, and it's disappointing that guys like Blyleven, Jack Morris, and Tony Oliva aren't in." You could tell he was sincerely disappointed, but also appreciative of the job the BBWAA does. “They do the best they can. It’s not an easy job.”

It would have been fun to discuss baseball history with Terry Ryan, but there were plenty of questions about the Minnesota Twins that I wanted to tackle. The first of which was about Francisco Liriano.

Since his surgery a few months back, little has been said about Liriano’s status. So, I asked Terry for an update. “Liriano has begun rehab, but most of his activities right now are range of motion things,” said Ryan. “He feels good and is optimistic, but one thing for sure, Joe, he’ll be out the entire year.” That pretty much is what we all expected, but it does put to rest any idea that Liriano could return early and pitch in relief during a playoff push.

Naturally, my next question then had to be about the starting rotation. With Liriano hurt and Brad Radke retiring, Johan Santana is the only sure thing for the Twins going into camp next month. I asked Terry to assess his rotation, and he was very forthcoming. “I’m still looking. We have the numbers and a lot of youth. But youth can be dangerous sometimes. We’ll have Santana, (Carlos) Silva, and (Boof) Bonser. We’ll have to figure out the other spots with (Sidney) Ponson, Scott Baker, (Glen) Perkins, and (Matt) Garza.” I asked if Garza would have the advantage going into camp. “Garza has to earn a spot. I really rushed him last year and moved him too fast,” Ryan said. “I needed an arm and we thought he was the best fit. I don’t like to rush (pitchers), but I’m not afraid to promote a player either.” Terry did rave about Garza, however, citing his athleticism, quality pitches, and excellent makeup. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see the young pitcher begin the year in the minors, but make no mistake about it, Matt Garza will be a fixture on this staff at some point this year.

When I brought up the skyrocketing free agent prices and his ability to sign Santana to an extension, Ryan wouldn’t take the bait. “I won’t overreact at this point,” he said calmly. “2008 is a long way off. I have to worry about this year first. But hopefully we’ll talk with Santana down the line, and he’ll want to stay here in Minnesota. We’ve been fortunate to keep a lot of guys here for most of their careers…guys like Kent Hrbek and Kirby Puckett.” It’s hard to imagine that the Twins will be able to compete for Santana’s services with the big market teams, but then again, it’s also hard to remember the last time the Twins lost an impact player to free agency.

We moved on to the offense, and I had to ask about the sincerity of the Twins plans to start Nick Punto at third base this season. Ryan spoke highly of Punto. “He makes plays, has speed, plays defense and does the little things well.” But the endorsements stopped there. “Punto is not going to hit the ball out of the park. We knew we needed more offense from the third base position. We brought in Jeff Cirillo and think he can help us offensively.” So are Cirillo and Punto going to split time at third base? “We’ll have to see,” said Ryan. “We’ll have to see.”

Third base isn’t the only position up in the air. The re-signing of Rondell White has clouded the left field picture as well. Was the move to bring back White an indication that Jason Kubel has still not completely recovered from knee surgery? “Jason is 100%, and he can play defense. We expect to have him in the outfield in Spring Training. He’s not limited to playing DH.” Ryan continued, “But we brought back Rondell White and he can play out there too. The guys will have to earn their spots, but going into camp, I’d say that Rondell White is our left fielder.”

Ryan and I went on to talk about the strength of the American League Central and the emergence of the Tigers and White Sox. Terry acknowledged the division is a dogfight but doesn’t expect anyone to feel sorry for the small market Twins. He treats the situation as a challenge that will only get tougher with the moves being made by the Kansas City Royals.

I then asked the GM to tell me, in his words, what made Justin Morneau the league’s MVP this season. “Justin gave us something we haven’t had in years…a player who was a consistent threat to hit the ball over the fence. He hit over 30 home runs, played solid defense, and provided leadership for the club. He helped push us over 800 runs for the year.” But Terry Ryan wasn’t about to forget about the other MVP candidates. “(Joe) Mauer and Santana were also strong candidates. And if Derek Jeter would have won the MVP I don’t think anyone would have any problem with that. There were a lot of deserving candidates. We were fortunate that the winner was our guy.”

As we exchanged parting comments and pleasantries, I asked Terry just one more question. In the spirit of the Hall of Fame ceremonies that afternoon, I asked Ryan to describe the career of Cal Ripken Jr. as he saw it. “(Cal) was always at the right place at the right time. He had a great respect for the game in the way he prepared, played and treated people,” said Ryan. “And I just don’t mean the players. He treated everyone well…from the fans to the bat boys. He was truly a great player.”


We’d like to thank Terry Ryan for today’s interview. A special thank also goes out to Mike Herman, Manager, Baseball Communications for the Minnesota Twins who was instrumental in setting up the meeting.