Gardenhire's status tops Ryan's offseason to-do list

DETROIT – Now that the offseason has arrived, Terry Ryan will get to work on shaping the 2015 Twins. But in a lot of ways, he has already made many of the toughest decisions.

The most pressing one is likely to be revealed Monday, when the general manager meets individually with Ron Gardenhire and his staff to deliver the news about whether each will be back next season. Ryan has steadfastly declined to reveal his plans, and Gardenhire claims to not know whether he will return for a 14th year as manager after four consecutive 90-loss seasons.

Gardenhire has a contract for next season, but his seven coaches do not, and all are under greater fire than ever before because of the Twins' third last-place finish in four years. Several players defended Gardenhire this weekend in Detroit — "I know everyone wants him back, no doubt," righthander Phil Hughes said. "It's been a pleasure playing for him this year." And members of the pitching staff made clear their support for pitching coach Rick Anderson, who has become a target of fans after the starting rotation posted the worst ERA in the majors for the past two seasons.

"There's nothing more I could ask of a pitching coach than what Rick Anderson does for everybody on the staff," reliever Anthony Swarzak said. "He's helped every one of us, but it comes down to us executing better."

Ryan fired three of Gardenhire's coaches two seasons ago and added another, Paul Molitor, last winter. He has been consulting with Twins owner Jim Pohlad and President Dave St. Peter frequently, he said, and "they know what's going on. They've got a good idea how I feel. It's been a very disappointing year for all of us in the organization: players, staff, the business side, everybody."

Once the staff is in place, Ryan will turn to the roster — but most of the most immediate decisions were made over the past couple of months. "A lot of that is because we traded [Kevin] Correia, and we traded [Josh] Willingham, and we traded [Kendrys] Morales," Ryan said. They also signed Kurt Suzuki to a two-year contract extension in July, leaving the Twins with no free agents on the roster. "We've got a younger roster now. So it's not the norm here."

The big decisions — free agents and trades — will wait until November and the winter meetings in December. Ryan has made it clear "we have plenty of payroll room" to build a winner, though arbitration-eligible players such as Trevor Plouffe, Eduardo Escobar and Tommy Milone will earn more than the minimum salary next year.

Only one major roster decision looms in the next month: Jared Burton has an option for 2015, so Ryan must decide whether to bring him back for $3.6 million or pay a buyout of $200,000. Burton, who turned 33 in June, posted a 4.36 ERA this season, worst of his three seasons with the Twins, but appeared strong again in September, giving up only one earned run in his final seven appearances. Burton said last week he has had no indication of the Twins' plans.

The Twins will also make a handful of cuts in order to make room on their 40-man roster for minor league players who otherwise become eligible for the Rule 5 draft in December. Players like Alex Meyer, Eddie Rosario and Miguel Sano must be placed on the roster, so a corresponding number of current players are at risk.

Among those who could be let go: Chris Colabello, who had a great April but lost his role to Kennys Vargas by season's end; Doug Bernier, a 34-year-old infielder who had a strong season in Class AAA; extra catchers Eric Fryer and Chris Herrmann. Decisions must also be made about pitchers such as Logan Darnell and A.J. Achter, whose roles in the future are uncertain.

And come December, the Twins must decide whether to offer Brian Duensing another contract. The veteran reliever posted a decent 3.32 ERA, but his walk rate jumped and lefthanders hit .242 against him. He will be 32 next year, earned $2 million in 2014 and could expect a sizable raise in arbitration. Might the Twins decline to tender him?

"I'm not going to sweat it. I want to be here, I really don't want to leave, but I also understand the nature of the game," Duensing said. "I could have had better numbers this year, but I'm confident in my stuff. I felt like I had a pretty good season. Whether that's worth [another contract], that's for them to decide."

Among many other things.