Philosophical differences led to the firing of Bill Smith:

“This is a culmination of multiple internal conversations among Jim Pohlad, Bill Smith and myself,” said Twins president Dave St. Peter during a late afternoon press conference.

“We just felt we weren’t on the same page,” Pohlad said.

Asked about the philosophical differences within the organization: St. Peter said: “I appreciate the question but we’re just not going to get into the specifics at this point.”

I wonder, did someone’s philosophy change? Or did all the injuries reveal one that lay hidden?

Among other problems, Ryan cited the injuries and questions about how long it players to get back to playing.

“The time when everybody started to get concerned was the rehab; how long it took people to get back on the field after a sprained ankle,” Ryan said. “I have to talk to our medical people. …We’re going to have to fix some of these things to get people back on the field.”

That indicates to me that some people in the organization might feel Bill Smith wasn’t tough enough on the players who were hurt. My experience with former MLB players is that they would all rather be on the field playing rather than nursing injuries. Does anyone really believe that Justin Morneau and Denard Span were not doing their best to come back from concussion? That Joe Mauer wanted to endure the criticism he received for being out so long? What exactly would Ryan have done differently? This seems a bit bogus to me.