Twins GM approval poll: March 2016

Today I wanted to get your thoughts on the front office. With the season's first game just four days away, would you give the Twins' braintrust your seal of approval? We'll touch on a few of the bad news/good news items by which an organization is often judged, but ultimately you'll be asked to answer our question with a 'yes' or a 'no' because that's what we're going for: an approval rating.

I've listed ten pros and cons that I've heard discussed as it relates to the job that Terry Ryan and the rest of his front office are doing. You may agree or disagree, and you will no doubt have your own reasons for voting yes or no.

The bad news

• The club did not add an experienced reliever with a proven track record to bolster the bullpen.
• Jose Berrios and Tyler Duffey were left off of the Opening Day roster.
• Ricky Nolasco was given the fifth starter spot.
• The team was too quiet in the offseason, not adding enough talent to keep pace with the improvements made by the rest of the division.
• Trevor Plouffe wasn't traded, wasting an opportunity to acquire talent elsewhere and forcing Miguel Sano into the outfield.
• Out of all the things the Twins could have done to ensure Sano and Plouffe were in the same lineup, they put the less athletic Sano - who had never played an inning at the position - in right field.
• The club was not active enough at the trade deadline last year and it might have cost them a Wild Card spot.
• It's now been five seasons since the Twins were in the playoffs, four of which made the team one of the worst in the league. The team has yet to win a playoff series since beating Oakland in 2002.
• The organization can be slow in adapting to needs and resistant to putting the pedal down when the situation calls for it.
• Is Terry Ryan still the man to be in charge?

The good news

• The club held onto Trevor Plouffe, allowing the team to elongate the middle of the order and give the offense the best chance to score more runs than they did in 2015.
• Gave the opening day job in center field to Byron Buxton.
• Held onto Oswaldo Arcia, Danny Santana, and Michael Tonkin, who were out of options.
• Built a lot of starting pitcher depth.
• Avoided adding long-term talent to the bullpen which would have blocked off young, talented strikeout arms.
• The team was aggressive in adding two big pieces: a good young catcher and a potential bargain in Byung Ho Park.
• Between 2015 and 2016, no fewer than ten potential franchise cornerstone players will have made their Major League debuts.
• The organization has rebuilt its talent pool from the ground up, putting the Twins in a position to compete for a long period of time.
• The team took a big step forward last year and is in a decent position to do so again in 2016.
• Terry Ryan is still the man in charge.