Twins GM Ryan says he's healthy, wants to return in 2015

A cancerous lump in his neck turned 2014 into one of the worst seasons of Terry Ryan's career, and a 90-loss baseball team didn't help much, either.

Ryan said Tuesday he is healthy again. And he sounded determined to stick around and treat what ails the Twins.

"I'm feeling pretty good. I'm doing quite well, actually," the Twins general manager said, now eight months removed from the diagnosis of squamous-cell cancer, surgery to remove his lymph nodes and weeks of radiation treatment. "It was a bit of a tough deal, back in the day, in the hospital. … I got cancer. It's tough, but I'm OK now."

The 60-year-old executive, finishing his third season since retaking the reigns of the team's front office, said his own job status for 2015, like that of manager Ron Gardenhire and the coaching staff, will be determined once the Twins' fourth straight 90-loss season ends on Sunday. But he made it clear he believes his health is no longer an issue. And he sounded a lot like someone who intends to remain at work rebuilding the Twins, if owner Jim Pohlad will have him.

"Am I physically able to do this job? Yes. If I couldn't do it, I would walk away," Ryan said. "This isn't one of those [jobs] where you can just dabble in it. You've got to take it on. And I can do that. I'm not worried about having the physical ability and energy and time to be able to do this job, or I wouldn't try it. That wouldn't be healthy."

He's still feeling some of the aftereffects of his cancer treatment, and he still is examined regularly by his doctors. His taste buds still aren't back to normal after the radiation treatments, and he's lost "a lot" of weight, he said, "but I'll get that back. I eat a lot of ice cream."

Any worries he had about stamina or strength or passion for his work, however, have been put to rest. Ryan didn't resume his duties full-time until the season was several weeks old, but he worked extra as the season went on to make up for it.

''I had a hell of an August — I was never home. But it was especially educational, because I never saw spring training."

"I got up to speed," he said. "Not as much as I'd like, maybe, but pretty close."

He oversaw several midseason transactions, like the signing (and eventual trade) of Kendrys Morales, the late-August trades of Josh Willingham and Kevin Correia, and the decision to bring Kennys Vargas directly to the majors from Class AA.

He's planning to scout the seven Twins, and all the other prospects, at the Arizona Fall League next month, and evaluate some of the franchise's youngest prospects at the instructional league. And he's eager, he said, to see how the free-agent market shakes out this winter.

"The free-agent market will be very competitive," Ryan said, apparently looking forward to competing himself. "We might have to overpay to bring a guy to us, with where we are in the standings. That's expected. And more often than not, it comes down to dollars and years."