Twins owner looking for 'lovable' GM
Minnesota Twins owner Jim Pohlad is about to embark on a search for a general manager for the first time since he gained control of the franchise in 2009. Whoever steps in will replace Terry Ryan, a organizational lifer who spent two stints as Twins GM before being fired on Monday.
For Pohlad, baseball acumen is only one small part of what he's looking for in a replacement for Ryan. The new executive, ideally, would be someone who's beloved by everyone who comes into contact with them.
"If I had to pick one requirement for somebody going forward, it's someone that's lovable," Pohlad told reporters Monday, according to MinnPost's Pat Borzi. "The only way you can be loved is if you’re lovable. We want someone that can ultimately be loved. Technically they have to have the skills and strength and so forth, and have to have the willingness to look (at) an organization and make hard decisions, or come up with ways for improvement."
His idea to look for the trait apparently came from seeing how those within the organization reacted to Ryan, who started in the Twins organization as a player in 1972, during a meeting.
"When we had the all-staff meeting, you can see how loved Terry is by our organization," Pohlad said.
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Loved or not, Pohlad must move on from Ryan and hire a new executive to try turning the Twins around. Though interim GM Rob Antony, another long-tenured member of the front office, is being considered as a candidate, Pohlad has said he'll look extensively at external candidates - something that's putting a bit of a scare into the owner. Including the franchise's history in Washington, D.C. from 1901-60, it's only gone outside the organization to hire a GM once - in 1984, when it chose Andy MacPhail.
"Yes, I would say (we're) nervous," Pohlad said, according to MLB.com's Do-Hyoung Park. "We haven't had to (search recently), and even if we ultimately went outside to hire a person, that's even harder, because they're not as known a quantity.
"We're going to do a thorough process at vetting all of the candidates that are put forth to us, and hopefully at the end of that, we'll have a good sense for people and maybe we won't be so nervous."