The Departed

Terry Ryan has left the Twins, and as much as I was on his case, I don't particularly want to see him go. In retrospect, much of the problems in recent years were not his doing, but rather that of an indifferent ownership, one, if you'll recall, volunteered the Twins for contraction. See, the first part of Ryan's plan pretty much went as it was supposed to. The second part, the one that required a little bit of backing from the owners collapsed entirely.
The first, which involved making timely trades and acquiring serious prospects, went off without a hitch, as Chuck Knoblauch, Eric Milton and most notably A.J. Pierzynski were moved in order to pull in some top flight prospects. Now, many GMs have caught on to Ryan's plan, and trades have been much harder to come by for the Twins staff lately.
The second part of the plan, the one where the Twins maintain their excellence, is where Terry Ryan failed to get the support he needed. In order to keep performing well, you need to keep your top players, something which Carl Pohlad hasn't demonstrated a willingness to pay for. In the absence of keeping your top players through their prime, another good strategy would be to trade for quality veterans or signing free agents. Again, both of these tactics cost money, and Pohlad wouldn't loosen his purse strings.
Now with several pending free agents and players seeking extensions, will the Twins remain competitive? Are they going to spend money and support new GM Bill Smith's quest for a quality squad? Well, Justin Morneau doesn't seem to think so. Johan Santana hasn't for some time. And if Ron Gardenhire is anticipating putting Nick Punto in the starting lineup every day again next season, that can't bode well. In fact, the only person really with an optimistic view is the Twins Geek. I wish I shared his optimism.
I have a feeling that the Twins and fans are in for a long, cold winter as they anticipate their future.

(apologies for the horrendous paint job)