Why So Much Hate On Terry Ryan?

Why would you question the man who helped form the Minnesota Twins into division champions in the 2000's? Why would you think the Twins are on the wrong side of the trade when the man who made the trade has a history of pulling of huge trades that brought Joe Nathan, and Francisco Liriano to Minnesota?

Terry Ryan might have Twins fans all across Twins territory sratching their heads after trading Denard Span to the Washington Nationals for a former first round pick that last pitched in single-a. Ryan saw that the Twins lack pitching prospects in the minors, and traded his best trade asset to aquire a pitcher that has a live arm, and could be a future ace for this franchise that has lacked a true ace since Johan Santana was traded in 2007.

Alex Meyer won't be the Twins opening day starter in 2013, or 2014 but with a fastball that touches 97 he should have Twins fans excited to see the six foot nine inch starter in the Twins uniform in the future. Don't blame Ryan for trading Span, no one should be blamed. Span plays a position where the Twins have a plethera of players who can play there. Ben Reevre showed everyone last season he can play in the majors, and with Aaron Hicks coming up through the system, and the arrival of  2012 first round pick Bryon Buxton on the horizon, Ryan had to make a trade to unclog the logjam in the outifeld.

Span is a fan favorite, and fans hate to see a good player leave, but with back-to-back last place finishes, the Twins needed to do something in order to become relavent again. In baseball the rebuilding process is long, and moves at a snail pace. It will be a couple years until the Twins will be back in the playoffs again, and this trade is the first major step forward for the Twins in order to become a contender again.

With this trade the Twins have a good young pitcher that they can develop. The only downside to this trade is Meyer wont be able to help the Twins now, which they desperately need, because with only Scott Diamond penciled into the rotation for next year, things look bleak at the moment for the 2013 Twins. The thing with baseball is that you can't just go out, and find five great pitchers in free agency, you need to develop them through your minor league system, which is precisely what they will do with Meyer.

Don't blame Terry Ryan, but instead give him faith, because remember this is the guy that found Johan Santana in the rule five draft. Ryan has the Twins best interest in mind when he pulled of this trade. This trade won't help the Twins win 100 games next season or the season after that, but if Meyer turns out to be the Twins next ace then maybe in 2015 we will see October baseball return back to Minnesota.