Q&A with Terry Ryan: Playoff exit stung more this season http://www.startribune.com/stories/509/5035774.html La Velle E. Neal III / Star Tribune October 17, 2004 Instead of watching the Twins in the American League Championship Series, Twins General Manager Terry Ryan spent last week watching his son, Tim, play football for Eagan High. It was a personal respite for what promises to be an extremely busy offseason. With only four players under contract, two significant free agents and several other high-profile players eligible for arbitration, the offseason will be pivotal for a team that for now at least will be expected to win a fourth consecutive AL Central Division title. In an interview after the Twins were eliminated from the postseason, Ryan outlined what lies ahead as he prepares for the 2005 season. Q: Does this postseason burn a little more because you played two extra inning games and were so close to forcing a Game 5? A: They all burn, but this one is a little different flavor because we were within grasp. Last year, when we got eliminated, those were games weren't pretty, and they put some numbers up against us. We had this one in our grasp for eight innings. We needed six outs and just didn't get it done, which made it much more abrupt. We were all looking forward to going to New York and seeing what would happen in the fifth game. It came to a screeching halt. Q: Brad Radke wants to get his situation figured out as soon as possible. Is he a top priority with you? A: One of the many because he's a pending free agent. Q: Will you be in contact with his agent soon? A: Probably. There isn't anything holding us back from addressing that situation. It's a business decision. I'm not going to take anything for granted. Q: Do you foresee making cost-effective trades -- like you did with Eric Milton last year -- in order keep the players you want to keep? A: That's always a possibility. It's apparent that our payroll is going to be in the neighborhood of what it was this year. There's going to be some sizable raises through the arbitration process. So we're going to have to juggle this thing around to try to figure out how it all is going to work. We have some baseball decisions, personnel-wise, to make that are going to be imperative that we make the right ones. It wasn't easy last year. It is not going to be easy this year. Q: What are the chances that your payroll could go up some next year? A: If it is, it is not going to be sizable. It may trickle up a little. It's always been a little bit of a floating number, but I'm going to sit here and say it will not be sizable. Q: Has Johan Santana met your criteria for approaching him about a multiyear contract extension? A: That's something I'm not going to divulge. There's no use in starting in on that now. That has not been decided on. I haven't got enough depth to look at his numbers to see where he will be on a one-year more or less beyond one year. I'm not sure how to respond to that, other than the fact that nobody has any problem rewarding him for the production he provided, and he provided a lot of production. Q: How much of a challenge will it be to bring back Corey Koskie and Cristian Guzman? (The Twins on Friday bought out Guzman, essentially making him a free agent.) A: To fit everything under payroll, we've got challenges. Not singling out those two gentlemen, but we have challenges. Before we start responding on who will be back and who won't be back, I think it is important that I get input from anybody and everybody. As I do every year I will sit down with the staff and get those thoughts. Q: Terry Tiffee, Jason Bartlett, Jason Kubel. Have they advanced to the point where you think you have options if you can't afford to keep everybody? A: Sometimes it doesn't matter if they have advanced or not (chuckles). Sometimes we have to force-feed them. I never would have thought that Jason Kubel would have been a piece to this puzzle. A year ago today we were talking about putting him on the 40-man roster. So you put people out there and see how they respond. Years ago, we force-fed Guzman, we force-fed Radke, we force-fed Milton, we force-fed [Joe] Mays. And they responded. Q: You're trying to win now ... A: True, but there's no one who would have told you back then that Radke was going to help you win, and that Milton was going to give us good years, and that Guzman would be an All-Star in 2001. We are in a position where we have to force-feed players more often than others. Q: Do you see a way in which you could re-sign Radke and bring back people like Koskie without having to make up for it elsewhere? A: It's going to be a juggling act. You're getting into specific guys now, and I haven't talked to Gardy yet about our personnel. Those are all guys I have to make a decision on. As soon as we sit down, we will prioritize and figure out the path we're going to take. Some people are going to make decisions for us. ... You don't know what the market is going to be like this year, either. Q: How confident are you that Joe Mauer will be a full-time catcher next season? A: Confident. Because no one has told me any different. The doctor in Cleveland, the last time we were in there, I went in there with ears open, and he stated emphatically that there's no reason he can't catch. Now if he has setbacks, that's a different issue. There's no need to think he can't catch, and he mentioned that he doesn't even have to wear a knee brace. That was a pretty good feeling, walking out of there. Q: So last week's developments don't concern you? A: It was just the process his knee is going through. That's what I was saying all along. --

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