Twins Rumors: Ryan, Payroll

Terry Ryan returned to the role of Twins GM yesterday; here's the latest on the club.

• Ryan will be the GM for as long as he wants to be, a member of the Twins organization told Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.  "I don't know if it'll be for one year or 10 years," Ryan said yesterday, noting that if he likes the job he expects owner Jim Pohlad to let him stay.
• Ryan alluded to a $100MM payroll for 2012 yesterday, down from the $113-118MM range the Twins had in 2011.  However, Twins president David St. Peter told Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, "Terry and I, frankly, have not had one discussion about our payroll for next year.  He’s been privy to it because nothing has changed from what we had been telling Bill [Smith]…I think it can be a fluid number. I’m hoping we can find a way to inch it forward."  Christensen guesses the Twins will ultimately have a payroll in the $110MM range.
• If Kevin Slowey and Jose Mijares are not retained, I'd estimate the Twins' commitments in the $74MM range for 2012 before accounting for minimum salary players.  That could mean as much as $30MM to spend on 2012 salaries.
• Ryan's said his first priority is to reach out to the agents for the team's own free agents: Michael Cuddyer, Jason Kubel, Joe Nathan, and Matt Capps.