Twins fire GM Terry Ryan

The Minnesota Twins have fired general manager Terry Ryan on Monday, they announced in a statement. 

Ryan, 62, has been serving as the general manager of the team since 1994, though was not part of the team from 2007 to 2011 after resigning and returning to his former post. He led the team to four postseason appearances. 

The Twins are currently 33-58 and have the worst record in the American League. This came as a bit of a surprise to many, as the team looked to be on the rise after a successful 2015 season which saw the team go 83-79 and almost make the playoffs. 

Ryan has built the Twins' farm system over the years, using the draft and international systems to his advantage. 

Players such as Ben Revere, Wilson Ramos and Miguel Sano have been more of the recent young player developments that Ryan has been apart of. In the future, this could expand out to Byron Buxton, Max Kepler and Jose Berrios, though they are all still early in their respective careers. 

Regardless, the firing of Ryan comes at an interesting time. The Major League trade deadline is in just a few weeks on Aug. 1 and the Twins will be without a permanent general manager. 

This is especially true considering that the Twins told Ryan last month that he would not be back next year, according to Phil Mackey of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities. Ryan, according to Mackey, ultimately decided that he would prefer to be fired in-season. 

The Twins are interested in bringing Ryan back in some capacity, according to Mackey. 

Twins Assistant General Manager Rob Antony will take over as interim GM while the team searches for a permanent solution. 

--Devan Fink

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