Minnesota, GM Terry Ryan fond of Elizabethton, Appalachian League
So when talk of disbanding the Appalachian League emerged last season, Minnesota and General Manager Terry Ryan had Elizabethton and the Appy League's back, so to speak.
One of ten teams against a split or co-op league, Minnesota stands by Elizabethton, the city with whom they've had one of their longest partnerships, and the League which has seen several of the Major League Twins initially blossom.
"It's apparent we're very fond of Elizabethton and the Appalachian League and it's served our purposes well," said Ryan, who was completing his annual three-day trip to 'Betsy Sunday evening. "We've been here a long time, since 1974, and we have a good relationship with the community and we've had a lot of success promoting players.
"We're advocates of the Appalachian League and it's been a good relationship. There's a lot of the same people with the team and around the Twins organization that have been here since we started."
In the last 20 years, the Elizabethton organization has seen unparalleled success in the League and it has also sent its share of players to the Big Leagues.
Recently, the squad has won two out of three Appy League titles and currently leads the league with its best record.
Year in and year out, a big reason for that is continuance among the team's coaching staff who stresses the main goals of the Twins organization, noted Ryan.
"We've got continuance here," Ryan said. "We're confident with Ray (Smith), Jeff (Reed) and Jim (Shellenback) and we've had stability in the locker room. They know our organization and where we stand.
"We want our players to have good work ethics, fare well off the field and be good in the community. You can't have three better guys teaching that in the clubhouse. You find me better people than the ones we have here, and I'll tell you you've got a heck of a staff."
Two of the Twins' brightest young players, catcher Joe Mauer and starting pitchers Francisco Liriano and Jesse Crane, saw action here in recent years.
Seeing players make a quick climb to the Major League level is a big key to parent clubs' relationships with their Minor League affiliates.
"It hasn't been that long since Mauer, Crane and those guys were here," Ryan noted. "That's what your relationship with the minor leagues is all about. That's how you develop relationships with the club and the community.
"It helps your teams when their fans can look on the television and say, 'I saw those guys play here.'"
One big key to the continuing relationship with Minnesota and Elizabethton is the satisfaction between the players and the community.
"People might not know this, but the players don't change that much when they get up to Minnesota. Out of all the players we've had come through Elizabethton, we've never got a negative word out of any of them," Ryan said.