The Twins have removed GM Bill Smith from the position after four years, and Terry Ryan, the "architect of the team's resurgence in the early 2000s, agreed to return to the job he had left four years ago," according to Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE. Ryan yesterday "accepted the title of interim general manager, sounding very much like a man who intends to see another rebuilding job through." Twins Owner Jim Pohlad two months ago said that Smith "would return for the 2012 season." Pohlad yesterday said, "There's no question I said (Smith's job was safe), and when I said it, I meant it. But we did say at the time that we want to get better in 2012, and we'll see what the plan is. And like we've said, the plan that was proposed, we were on different pages." Pohlad and team President Dave St. Peter offered Smith "another position in the organization." Smith said that he "plans to step back for about a month and think about it." Ryan yesterday "confirmed former assistant GM Wayne Krivsky will be returning as a special assistant" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 11/8).
CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS: Ryan yesterday "confirmed that the payroll is going down" to approximately $100M for next season. In Minneapolis, La Velle Neal III notes the Twins' '11 payroll "wound up at just over $115 million, so the Twins are looking at a 2012 payroll roughly 13 percent less than it was last season." Twins C Joe Mauer is "scheduled to earn $23 million each of the next seven seasons" and figures to take up "more than 20 percent of the club's 2012 payroll." The team has $38M "tied up in two players" when 1B Justin Morneau's $15M salary in '12 is included (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 11/8). Ryan said, "Payroll is always a function of revenues. Frankly, our payroll was north of what we thought it should be in 2011. ... It didn't work out. We may go into the season with one number and have a little flexibility to add. It's not always where you start; it's where you end" (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 11/8).
HIGH FLYING BIRDS: The Orioles today formally introduced Dan Duquette as the team's new Exec VP/Baseball Operations, and MLB Network's Chris Rose yesterday said, “The question is, can he play nice with the other kids in the sandbox? He was always tough to work with, from what we understand, depending on the reports you believe up there in Boston. He didn’t have a good relationship with the media and now he’s got to work in concert with Buck Showalter. I’ll be very curious to see how those two personalities meld” (“Intentional Talk,” MLB Network, 11/7). The Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo: “One of the undoings of Dan Duquette was his lack of people skills. He alienated the Boston media, he also alienated a lot of people on his staff and I think the last nine or 10 years where he’s been out of baseball, I think he realizes that’s the reason he’s been out of baseball. And I think he’s really changed a lot and I think he’ll be much better this time in Baltimore” (“NESN Daily,” NESN, 11/7).
