Terry Ryan Shows How Good Management Makes a Winner

It’s time to do away with the notion that teams need to have a lot of money to produce a winner in Major League Baseball. Last year, the American League West teams finished in inverse proportion of their payrolls, and the Anaheim Angels, after finishing second in the AL West, went on to win the World Series from the Wild Card position.
 
This year, once again, Minnesota and Oakland won their respective divisions with low payrolls and will be battling New York and Boston for the right to advance to the World Series.
While it is true that the Yankees and the Braves have dominated in recent years, it is not just the money that has made them winners. If it was just the money, then why haven’t the Mets, Dodgers, Rangers and Orioles also dominated?
 
I’m not saying that it doesn’t help to be able to go out and buy good talent when you need a hole filled and that the Yankees and Braves don’t benefit from having the money to spend. What I am saying is that high- or low-payroll teams that are successful manage their money and resources well.
 
For comparison sake, the Yankees are in a league of their own. They are arguably the greatest sports franchise of all time. They have developed a winning tradition that attracts a great fan base with continual high expectations. Say what you want about George Steinbrenner, but he demands that all of his personnel meet those expectations. Even back in the 1980s, when I played, the Yankees’ reputation and tradition presented a challenge to any player; you knew that if you played for the Yankees, you’d better win and perform or you wouldn’t play there long. To me, players thrive on that New York Yankee pressure to produce and are able to stay there for a long period of time.
 
Saying all of that, the backbone of their success is their personnel and their ability to formulate a good plan for success and consistently carry it out. General manager Brian Cashman has done an outstanding job of getting the right players to fit in with the players they have developed, and manager Joe Torre has been outstanding in keeping the team focused on winning while putting aside personal goals.
 
Over the past few years, Oakland and Minnesota have proven that with a solid plan for success and good personnel to carry it out, a team can be a consistent contender. Oakland’s success has been well documented. Without a lot of money, the A’s have been very innovative with their methods of drafting and trading to fit the right pieces together and form a consistent winner. Their unconventional use of statistics has caused them to become very efficient in the use of the limited resources they have.
 
Minnesota has, for a long time, been a great example of an organization with a good solid plan for success, and having the personnel to carry it out. Even back in the late ’70s, owner Calvin Griffith had a distinct plan that produced contending clubs. He knew exactly how much money he was going to spend on his players. When a player would develop to the point where he didn’t think he could afford him, Calvin would usually trade him for top prospects from other organization. He relied heavily on his scouts to make good solid picks in the draft, and his minor league personnel to develop that good young talent.
 
That philosophy produced a steady flow of good, young inexpensive talent that could contend but couldn’t seem to go all the way. As a player on the Twins in the late ’70s, it was frustrating to keep getting to the point where I felt like we just needed one or two players to win it all, but then would see players who had established themselves get traded away for future talent.
 
Now under the direction of GM Terry Ryan, the Twins still employ much of that same philosophy, except that they have been able to keep their best talent and win championships.
Their philosophy of draft the best players and develop them is simple, and yet few clubs are as successful as the Twins are at having a plan to carry that out.
 
Current Twins manager Ron Gardenhire has been in the organization since 1987. That was his last year as a player and he has been coaching for the organization ever since. Right away, he noticed the Twins’ emphasis on development. He said, “We start from the ground up and get after them. We have fundamental session workouts at home every day during the season. [Former manager] Tom Kelly always stressed that, and Terry and Jim [Rantz, director of the minor leagues] are big development guys.”
 
As far as the draft is concerned, they draft the best players available instead of drafting to fill positions. They pay particular attention to signability. There are some players who the Twins know they will be unable to sign because of budget limitations. So they concentrate on the best players they can sign.
 
The difference is Ryan’s leadership. While many managers’ relationships to general managers is tenuous at best, Gardenhire speaks of Terry with great respect, calling him one of the most dedicated people he has seen.”
 
Ryan is a tireless worker who shows great confidence in his own personnel and the players they sign and trade for. He generally hires from within, looking inside the organization before looking outside. A great number of the players on the current team are homegrown. That gives the current minor league players the confidence that they will have a shot with the Twins and not be dealt away.
 
Above all else Terry cares for and appreciates his people. When coach Al Newman was hospitalized in Chicago with a brain hemorrhage a few weeks ago, Terry stayed with him. A few days ago he made the trip to Chicago with the doctors to pick up Al and his wife from the hospital and take him back home to Minnesota. He didn’t have to do that but his people are a priority to him.
 
Anyone will work harder when they know they are appreciated and cared for. Terry Ryan has set a good example and the Twins have hung in there to win once again. The Yankees are heavy favorites but don’t count out this band of closely-knit players. Whether the Twins win or lose from here on out, they have proven that more than money, good management and leadership that cares can consistently keep a team at or near the top.
 
Note: Minnesota, under Terry Ryan, continues to be in contention year in and year out including this year 2007.
 
September 2003
By Geoff Zahn
Former Head Baseball Coach University of Michigan and 12 Year Major League Veteran Pitcher