Kevin Jairaj – USA Today Sports
Today, the Minnesota Twins officially made the decision to extend manager Ron Gardenhire‘s contract for another two years.
The Twins lack of initiative on the chance to make yet another big move is disappointing. The fault now falls on the shoulders of the organization’s upper management. Minnesota’s GM Terry Ryan has proven that he is a wait-and-see kind of guy, but I’m not sure how much longer Twins fans will put up with this mantra.
Re-signing Gardenhire for another two years shows that the Twins are confident that their skipper can turn it around, but also shows their unwillingness to deal with change. Gardenhire is only the second manager the Twins have had since 1986 — that’s 26 years with only one shift in management.
As the Twins have become too comfortable with Gardy, Gardy has become too comfortable with the Twins. Gardenhire has failed to perform in the past three seasons and has done it miserably at that.
The Twins have become too comfortable in many aspects of their game, management being just one of them. Now that Gardenhire has been given yet another shot, it is crucial that the Twins step up in other areas. Now is the time for Ryan to break away from his bias towards the farm system as the only source of future success.
While the organization’s minor league program is arguably the best in the entire league, signing a few big-name free agents is necessary for the Twins to have immediate success. Waiting around for phenoms like Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano to mature into players capable of handling the major league stage will undoubtedly lead to another failed season in 2014.
The Twins and Ryan need to break out of their comfort zone and do it fast if they hope to make any major improvements in 2014.
Caroline Ponessa is a Minnesota Twins writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow her on Twitter @RantCaroline
