Twins GM in area to check out Miracle

Ryan talks about Minnesota’s slow start

By David Dorsey
Fort Myers News-Press

The Minnesota Twins surged from an early season slump last season to win the American League Central Division title.

Minnesota Twins general manager Terry Ryan wished his team could have avoided that opening slump this season, but he remains hopeful of a turnaround.

Ryan, who has guided the Twins since 1994, is in Fort Myers this week, spending some time with his team’s Class A, minor league affiliate, the Fort Myers Miracle.

While the Twins entered Wednesday with a 21-24 record — seven games behind the Cleveland Indians in the division — the Miracle entered Wednesday with a 17-28 record.

That’s 14 games behind West Division leader Sarasota.

Ryan, who will watch the Miracle take on the Daytona Cubs at 7:05 tonight at Hammond Stadium before returning to Minneapolis, talked about a number of topics.

On the Twins’ tough start: “We’re struggling. We’re going through a tough stretch. It’s frustrating because of the number of injuries. We’re losing players by the day. That makes it more difficult, but we’ll work through it.”

On inconsistencies: “It hasn’t been crisp baseball. One day, we’ll have pitching, but we don’t hit. Another day, we’ll hit, but we don’t have the pitching. Detroit and Cleveland are both off to good starts. Our record is about the same as it was at this point last season. We’re not at the point of no return. We’re seven games back.”

On Naples High School graduate Carmen Cali, who was summoned to the big leagues from Triple-A Rochester late Monday night after Glen Perkins suffered a strained left shoulder: “Carmen did a nice job at Triple-A Rochester. He pitched well. He worked very hard. He did everything he needed to do between his outings. Yes, I saw him pitch at Naples High School. He was a nice pitcher back then, and he’s a nice pitcher now. Anybody from around here, we evaluate. This is our home, too, and we like to make sure we know what’s going on in our own backyard.”

On left fielder Rondell White, who is out with a torn calf muscle and rehabilitating here in Fort Myers: “He’s making slow progress. I don’t have a timetable on him.”

On last year’s pitching sensation, Francisco Liriano, who is in town rehabilitating after Tommy John surgery: “We flew him up to Minnesota to be with us for a little bit. We wanted to make sure he was aware that he’s not forgotten. We wanted our doctors and people to take a look at him, and we wanted him around his teammates.”

On the purpose of him watching the Miracle play five games this week at Hammond Stadium: “There’s a reason we come through here. We want to let these young players know how important they are for our future. We talk to the players and the coaches and get a feel for how they are doing.”

On if the Miracle’s lack of offensive production so far concerns him for the future: “Not yet. They’ve played well in the two games I’ve seen them. We’ve had some low-scoring games up in the big leagues as well. Things have a way of changing. We’re hopeful they will improve upon that. I would worry about it over the course of 140 games. I’m not worried about it over 40 games.”