Twins' Molitor, Ryan find they're on same page

BOSTON – The Twins have a lot of roster moves to make in the next few weeks, from determining when — or if — Oswaldo Arcia returns from his rehab assignment, to reducing the bullpen to seven members, to figuring out how to juggle their starting pitching over the next few days. And in a month, they will have to make room for Ervin Santana.

Paul Molitor has some ideas about what the Twins should do with their roster. And his opinion is valued like never before.

"He's probably going to get his wish," General Manager Terry Ryan said about pending transactions. "You want a guy, let's go get him. … I'm not that hard to work with."

He's not, Molitor agrees, even though he's a rookie manager and Ryan has held his job for most of the past two decades. They talk several times each week, sometimes daily, about changing the 25-man mix in the clubhouse. Theirs is an evolving relationship, and the team's record — 30-19, good for first place in the AL Central — says it's evolving just fine.

"We haven't had any blowups or anything," Ryan said.

Already the Twins — rained out of Monday's scheduled series opener in Boston — have placed seven players on the disabled list, sent four players on rehab assignments and optioned five players to Class AAA Rochester, and while Molitor wouldn't say definitively that his preference has been honored on every transaction, he sounded satisfied with his ability to be heard.

"I'm involved. I don't know how much weight I have, but I certainly have had an opportunity to present my opinion," the manager said. "He's going to see things a little differently than how I might see them, but he's very aware of what my staff and myself think about those issues and personnel. And so far, he's been very receptive to things we've thrown his way when we've had to make moves."

And when the team optioned designated hitter Kennys Vargas to Rochester on May 18, the move came after Molitor's occasional insinuations that he wasn't happy with the second-year hitter's preparation.

Those moves might have been as much the manager's choice as his boss', and Ryan said that's the way it should be.

"He's down there with those 25 guys. In the clubhouse, sitting on the bench, I don't hear that, but Paul does," Ryan said. "I would give any manager a voice, no doubt. His voice is heard more than any. … He talks me into things more than out of them."

Still, the final call is Ryan's.

"Terry has been [good about] consulting me — 'Let's talk, let's put together some theories on what could happen,' " Molitor said. "Collaborative is a lot better than one guy feeling like he's doing all the decisionmaking. It's nice when we agree on those things."

"I've been in the minor league cities with him when we've talked about players. I've been in organizational meetings with him when we've talked about players. He knows them," Ryan said. "It's not unlike [former manager Ron Gardenhire] — he came up through our system."

So are the Twins Terry Ryan's team?