The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

#-1: Twins (Last Week: -1).  The second half of the year begins with a 3-4 screening week, where they lost two-of-three at home vs. Cleveland but then won two-of-three in Detroit.  They have begun a four-game series at Boston Thursday which didn't go so well -- 13-2, yikes.

But the big news came Monday morning, where General Manager Terry Ryan was relieved of his duties.  Saying he was shitcanned may be too strong; from what I've heard, the Pohlads told Ryan that he wasn't going to return next year, but given that he has served the organization well, they were going to give him the right and the space to craft his own exit.  Around the weekend, Ryan said, "OK, I would like to leave now."

Maybe I have a blind spot for him, but viscerally, I don't feel that firing Ryan was the right thing to do.  Yes, I lean on the fact that the GM isn't the one giving up gopher balls to middling hitters, or striking out with men in scoring position, or blowing late leads.  And yes, I am cognizant of the fact that the GM does select the players that give up those homers and fail to score and choke when the team is ahead.  I guess that, because he was the architect of the Twins' Renaissance in the 90's, he can do it again.  And it has been four years since he resumed GM duties for a second time.  I'm thinking that a lot of people believe that's more than enough; I think he should get a couple more years.  The big-league club is awful, but the farm system is considered to be in pretty solid shape.  Well, stocking the farm system is the GM's job.  So Ryan did a good job, didn't he?

So now the Pohlads are going to search high and low for Ryan's replacement -- inside and outside the organization, too.  If they're going to dump Ryan, yes, I think it's time to shake off the incestuous culture and hire someone from the outside.  However, the Pohlads have emphatically declared that regardless of who the new GM is, Paul Molitor stays as Manager for next year.  Now who in the hell would want to become the Twinks' new General Manager if he isn't given the power to select his own Manager?  That is a weird edict to dictate.

In the meantime the Twins, who have the worst record in the American League, finish their series at Fenway Park this weekend.  They then come home for an eventful workweek: On Tuesday they have that rare, strange two-game series against Atlanta (the team with the worst record in the Major Leagues, and a team I'll be seeing next week in the ATL after they finish that series at Target Field), then host Baltimore Thursday in a make-up game that was rained out on its original date of May 9.