In his nine seasons as the General Manager of the Minnesota Twins, Terry Ryan has earned a reputation for making shrewd trades on a limited budget. In fact, Ryan was named the 2002 Sporting News Executive of the Year for his hard word in assembling the first American League Central Division champions from Minnesota. His imprint is noticeable as several of the core players of the current team were acquired through trades such as Johan Santana, Kyle Lohse, and Cristian Guzman. During the first half of his time as GM, Ryan made several trades that were perceived as salary dumps. However, the Twins position has changed during Ryan’s tenure to one of a struggling team with limited finances to a team a few pieces away from being complete. Has Ryan successfully transitioned along with the team? Was Ryan even that great in the first place? What I aim to do is analyze the trades which Ryan has made, and attempt to determine whether or not his reputation as an astute judge of baseball ability is well-earned. Thus, this will be divided into sections to illustrate when Ryan was making salary dumps and when he was trying to bolster an already solid team.
The Competing Era
A funny thing happened in April 2001. The Twins started winning games and jumped out into first place of the American League Central Division. While they stumbled and dropped to second place in the second half of 2001, the Twins have been playoff contenders for each of the last three seasons. Thus, Terry Ryan’s job completely reversed. Instead of dealing away his more accomplished players for prospects, Ryan was now asked to acquire the missing pieces from a playoff contender.
Todd Jones pitched 19 and 1/3 innings for the Twins down the stretch in 2001 as a reliable right-handed reliever while LaTroy Hawkins was wilting under the pressure of being a closer. After the season he signed with the Rockies and was very durable and useful in 2002 as a reliever with the Rockies. This season, however, Jones was awful as he was five runs below replacement level with Colorado before being released. He then joined the Red Sox and was basically a replacement level reliever.
Verdict: Bad, Terry Ryan traded a very valuable commodity for something much less valuable. While Redman had rubbed some of the Twins brass the wrong way, there was no reason to overcompensate for LaTroy Hawkins’ meltdown by acquiring a middling middle reliever. Additionally, Redman made starts in 2002 and 2003 than Brad Radke, Eric Milton and Joe Mays.
To be fair, Rick Reed was the team’s most consistent starting pitcher in 2002, but he was terrible down the stretch in 2001. Overall, he’s been 58 RARP since the trade, but he has managed to alienate most Twins fans. Matt Lawton went to New York and promptly aged ten years. He has suffered from nagging injuries the past two years and his on-base and slugging percentages have dropped dramatically since his time on the Twins.
Verdict: Even, this trade helped kill the Twins slim playoff chances down the stretch in 2001 as Reed pitched poorly. However, his solid 2002 and Lawton’s continued injury problems are making the trade look a little better in hindsight.
While Stewart was playing well in Minnesota, Bobby Kielty had an awful second half in Toronto. In August, for example, he hit just 164/284/325. However, he is still under contract for the next four seasons and will continue to provide patience and moderate power.
Verdict: Good, Shannon Stewart was exactly the player needed to jumpstart the Twins in the second half of the season. While chemistry is often overvalued or mocked, there can be little doubt that the Twins started playing much better after the trade (although the pitching was much better as well). Stewart was 13 RARP as a Twin while Bobby Kielty was actually two runs below replacement level with the Blue Jays. If Kielty can bounce back from his miserable second half, this trade will slowly swing towards the Blue Jays favor.
Verdict: Terrible, there is absolutely no reason to trade anyone with a pulse for Jesse Orosco at this point in his career.