Terry Ryan Quotations

There are certainly areas in the rotation at which we can improve, like any club. But you look at what we have and it's something definitely we can work with. We have history and we have depth. Those two things give us a chance, once again, to be a formidable staff.

When you take clubs like Minnesota, Oakland, many of these small-market teams, you're going to have some changeover,

Unfortunately, I suspect he might end up in the bullpen. We'll adjust.

We're aware of what he's gone through and overcome. It's a tremendous tribute to him that he's here.

Last year we won 83 games, which was a huge disappointment for us. Eight, nine years ago I would have been thrilled to win 83. That's no longer the case.

She brought my mom to life. My mom had a destiny that outlived her body.

Shannon Stewart is a good hitter. Last year he didn't put up the type of numbers he is accustomed to. I anticipate him having a good year.

Building a bullpen calls for going from the back forward. Having an established closer like Nathan along with a reliable setup guy in Juan Rincon is a key. Then we had Jesse Crain emerge as a quality sixth- and seventh-inning reliever.

He had a nice year (in the minors) and an even better fall, but as far as him being ready for that (major league) level, I don't want to burst anybody's bubble.

He had some faults, we knew that. But when all was said and done he would treat you as well as he would anyone else, no matter who you were.

He got his feet wet. Everybody's in consideration right now.

He never changed, even after he got into the Hall of Fame. He might have changed physically, but inside he was the same guy ... Everybody is going to be sad for the next couple of days, but when you remember him, you're going to smile.

He's 25. He's still a relatively young man. Sometimes, it's healthy, repeating a league. I don't like rushing people. We try to make people earn themselves promotions.

He's creative. He finds ways to get contracts done.

He's bounced around too much. It's about his turn.

He's been in a couple of these situations recently, and there's nobody that feels more grateful for getting this assignment than he. He's been close a couple times, and I'm sure he was wondering if it was ever going to be reality. But it was a matter of time. It was just inevitable. All he needed was the right mix.

He was not comfortable in leaving camp to play. He wanted to make sure that he would be fresh for an entire year.

He did some damage to us. That was the type of scenario where you could envision him doing that for us. No doubt that will be fresh in many people's minds.

Kenny Williams has always been very gracious in talking about us, which is flattering. And he says he's doing things that we have done and so forth, and that's awfully gracious of him. But he's done a wonderful job over there.

Joe's the type of human being that he's worried about letting someone down. But it was a personal decision that he had to make and do what was in the best interest for him.

I was having knee issues and began riding. I started out with a mountain bike; (I) started riding on the roads and quickly realized I needed a road bike. It's been a very steady progression from there.

I was not going to go through the tender process with him in December, and I wanted to give him every opportunity to get on with somebody else.

Well, ... we're not going to whine about it. What good does that do? You can find ways to say, 'Woe is me.' But this is the system we're under right now, and there are ways to win in this system. You can do it through the Amateur Draft. You can do it through the Rule 5 draft. You can get lucky with a kid from Venezuela.

We need to improve in many areas. If we aren't going to hit it over the fence, which we have not, we need to execute the fundamentals of small ball ... which have been not very good. We've got to learn our game.

We'll let the market decide where he's going to be at.

We didn't have a good year last year. Some people in-house didn't approach their career numbers.

We'll start looking for a bat now. I don't really have a timetable. I'm not concerned about when, I'm just concerned about who. I don't have any preference on today or tomorrow or next month.

We've certainly seen all the additions that the White Sox and the Indians have made with their clubs. We feel like we match up with them quite well and that we are off to a good start to field a very competitive team this season.

Every club has issues. Whether you have a $30 million payroll or $130 million, you've got issues,

First off, we're always young. We're one of the youngest teams in the game every year. Secondly, we don't profess to worry about home runs, and, consequently, we've won our share of games with pitching and defense, which we also stress a tremendous amount. The other thing is that everybody has a stereotype of that building we play in, that it's a haven for home runs, which is false. It isn't a homer dome. Those days are gone ? since about '87 when we had four or five guys that did hit a bunch of them.

There's nothing we can do about it. Every team is in the same boat. If there's one area we have depth, it's pitching.

They are all here for a reason, because there is every opportunity here for a left-hander to win a job.

It was a little bit of a humbling year. We got what we deserved. We didn't play well as a team.

Anybody that knew Kirby or has been around him, we're all thinking about him. I knew, though, what he'd want us to do. Go out and do what you're supposed to do here. He'd want us to go out and play the game.

Anyone who is around our organization, we have pictures up of (Puckett) and Rod Carew and Harmon Killebrew and Tony Oliva. We've done a great job of bridging the gap between when Kirby played and the players now.

All along the way in my cycling career, many people have been supportive in showing me the right direction. That has served as a catalyst for me to do the same thing for others.

You're starting to see this team formulate. If nothing becomes available, what you see is what you're going to get.

Almost any decision that I ended up making in the baseball part of our operation Wayne was involved in at some point.

This opportunity to compete for the right-field spot might give Michael a chance to relax a little bit. It's been the opinion of those around him that he is better at the plate when he is in the outfield. This might be just the key for him.

There were some tempers that flared and got out of whack for about two days and then festered some over the winter, which did concern me. It's been taken care of now.

It was complicated -- so many teams, ... I can see why things get bogged down. I don't know if deadlines are a good thing or not, we were real close.

It's a blow to us, but there's no better feeling than seeing a guy who has worked to earn this type of opportunity get an opportunity. I know he's ready.

Forget speculation. Let's talk about reality. People were talking about Brad Radke being traded seven years ago, and he's been with us for 11 years.

It's been an extremely rare year where you saw very little movement, ... I don't have an explanation for it. It was just one of those years where people didn't want to move players. I don't know if it was because more teams were in it, or what.

It's sad that it has ended this way. This is one of the saddest days in Twins history. Only 45 years old. . . . That's way too early.

It's tough to take. When you're around him, he makes you feel pretty good about yourself. He can make you laugh. He can do a lot of things that can light up a room. He's a beauty.

That's the best news we've heard. That puts him right on schedule. He's going to be used for them just like he's going to be used for us.

It's nice to see players get rewarded. I hope he ends up in Triple-A this year. He's put in his time.

The best example of that is when we added Shannon Stewart. He fit right in. Almost every year, this club has turnover. It's a way of life.

It's been interesting. It's been a little bit of an odd year. Regardless of what we have gone through, we seem to be resilient enough to win. And that's what's happened.

It was apparent last year that if we would have hit a little bit more and executed a little bit better, our win mark would have been in the 90s.

I hope we get lucky, because we're certainly a good fit. He's going to be over in that dugout and the opposing manager's going to know it and he could cause some havoc. Just like he did against us.

If you look at his numbers, people would say no wonder you talk about him. But the first thing you talk about with him is, No. 1 he's left-handed and No. 2, he throws hard. When you find a lefty who throws hard and can get in the same area code as the strike zone, there is a good chance you are going to talk about him.

If you go out and get an outfielder, and all of a sudden Stewart comes back healthy, then what? ... Do you sit him?

I know it's tough to justify, but sometimes your 20th draft pick becomes as important as your first. It's a mistake judging an entire draft class by what the first guy does.

I hear those sarcastic remarks throughout the game. People say that the Twins got a bad batch and all that. I hear that stuff. But who cares? All I care about is winning.

He's prepared. He's done about everything you can do except sit in the (general manager's) chair. I'm proud of him, but we're losing a good man.

If I was a left-handed pitcher coming into this camp, I'd be very excited.

If he's not stretched out, that's going to be an issue. But we can't request a guy not go. I encourage him to go. Let's take the high road here. This might be a good thing for the young man. He's going to be around very competitive baseball, and hopefully he'll get very meaningful innings.

I don't think anybody is totally opposed to it. But it wouldn't be ideal. You don't want him sitting down in the bullpen and only pitching one inning at a time.

I don't want to hear about him coaching. His No. 1 goal right now should be playing ? getting to Triple-A and then getting to Minnesota.

He's never been one to micromanage. Yet he's about as competitive a guy as I've seen.

He's got a history of power. His average amount of home runs would lead our team. We feel pretty good about this move overall.

All he does is drive in runs. If he gets 90 RBI out of the seven or eight hole in the lineup, we'll be receptive to that.