THE MINNESOTA TWINS FIRE GENERAL MANAGER BILL SMITH

The Minnesota Twins announced today that they have fired Bill Smith. Smith was the fifth general manager for the Minnesota Twins. He took over October 1, 2007 from long time manager and mentor Terry Ryan.

Terry Ryan will take over as general manager for the interim.

In a release from the Twins, Smith said:

“Working for the Minnesota Twins for the past 26 seasons has been the greatest professional privilege I could have ever imagined. I will be forever grateful to the Pohlad family for the many wonderful opportunities they have provided to me, including the chance to sit in the General Manager’s chair for the past four seasons. My thanks and admiration to each of the wonderfully talented people with whom I have worked, and to Tom Kelly, Ron Gardenhire, their hard-working coaches & trainers and a large group of players who always represent the Minnesota Twins on the field and in the community better than any team in Baseball! Finally, it gives me great pleasure to hand this baton back to the best baseball man I have ever known, Terry Ryan.”