Terry Ryan addressed the media in his first post-All Star break session at Target Field, and topics ranged from the trade deadline shifting back a day, to the potential of trading an injured player to just how good Miguel Sano can become defensively at third base, among other things.

Here are the highlights:

• Ryan said that the reason the MLB changed the trade deadline from Sunday, July 31 to the next day was that the league doesn’t want the distraction of players being pulled off the field in the middle of games. “There are teams that have day games on the 31st, and the commissioner did not want players taken off the field because of a trade.”
• Trevor Plouffe joined his teammates on the field briefly to help pick up baseballs during batting practice, but he is not close to returning from a cracked rib. “He’s doing fine, but he’s not anywhere near ready. He still has some recovery time there. He’s a ways away. There are still some areas of concern with that rib. But he’s making progress.”
• Ryan added that Plouffe’s time frame isn’t exactly clear, but he suspected it would stretch into August.
• To that point, Ryan said players can be traded while hurt, and named examples such as Bronson Arroyo and Jesse Crain in recent years. Even so, he couldn’t recall a situation when he had traded for an injured player.
• In order to trade an injured player, Ryan said, a team must provide extensive medical records. “You can do it. The severity of the injury would dictate whether you’re doing to or not. If you know what the injury is, and it’s not anything that’s going to hinder your thoughts about getting the guy on the field. You’ve got reports on him from the previous time that he was healthy. That’s very possible to see some of that. It’s not against the rules, and as long as everybody is educated about what you’re getting. You don’t want to get stuck with somebody and they’re hiding something. But if a guy is on the DL, you’re obligated to get medical reports so there shouldn’t be any hidden agenda.”
• Byung Ho Park homered for the first time at Triple-A Rochester on Thursday. “He took a couple good at-bats yesterday,” Ryan said. “That’s encouraging. We’re hoping that type of thing will be more of a consistent day for him at the plate.”
• Ryan said he has a lot of interest in the Twins Hall of Fame weekend: “That’s huge. Both of those guys have been huge members of this organization. Obviously John’s been here for 30 years or so. The other guy (Torii Hunter), obviously what he has done on the field, in the community, for our ballclub, for the industry in general and not just the Twins…but it’s very well deserved. Obviously I’m a big Torii Hunter fan, but John Gordon is a tremendous representative to this organization. Not only his play-by-play, but what he did in the community, and in the winter time and all the stuff, the appearances and all that? He’s about as deserving a guy to go in this Hall of Fame as most anybody for me.”
• Ryan said he didn’t know ahead of time that Rod Carew was going to be the new namesake for the AL Batting Title, but that he was tipped off about it just beforehand. “I got it just a tad ahead of the announcement,” Ryan said. “There’s not much better than that either. You talk about leaving a legacy? His name will be on it forever. Between him and Tony Gwynn, I don’t know if you can do better or not naming a batting title.”
• Ryan on Sano’s extended look at third base: “He’s getting a nice look and opportunity. He’s going to get an opportunity here, so here’s his chance to showcase a little bit of that want to play there.”
• Ryan said Sano has made a couple really, really good plays at third base since moving there, and has missed a couple he probably shouldn’t have. “He hasn’t had that many balls over there either. He didn’t have any in right all spring, it seemed. We put him out there and about the first two games he gets a dozen balls. He hasn’t had that many plays at third. He had a couple in Texas that he should have made, and I’m sure he’ll tell you that as well as anybody. He can do some things over there. He’s got that agility that’s hard to come by. He can make the slow roller play with the best of them. He’s got a power arm. It’s just a little bit more repetition and consistency, but he can become a very good third baseman. There’s work to do. I watch him a lot positioning and so forth; you don’t have to move him too much. He’s got a pretty good feel over there. He keeps an eye on Gene Glynn; Gene Glynn keeps an eye on him. For the most part I think he grasps the position well.”
• Despite Sano’s age, Ryan isn’t surprised how much “feel” he has for third base as a position: “He’s a baseball player. It wouldn’t have surprised me to see him become a good right fielder in time, and it won’t surprise me to see him become a good third baseman. He’s a good baseball player and he’s got all the attributes of being able to help you on both sides of the ball. There’s no reason he shouldn’t become a good defensive player.””

Brandon Warne

Brandon Warne covers the Minnesota Twins for Zone Coverage and is also the site's senior editor. He hosts the Midwest Swing podcast for the site as well. He and his wife Amanda live in the outer Twin Cities suburbs with their daughter, Harper.

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