CHICAGO -- The Toronto Blue Jays, in search of a new general manager, have permission to interview Minnesota Twins GM Terry Ryan.

Ryan, 47, the Twins' general manager since 1994, has worked for the Twins since 1986.

He was contacted Wednesday by Toronto president and chief executive Paul Godfrey -- who is looking for a replacement for the fired Gord Ash.

Twins president Jerry Bell granted Godfrey permission to interview Ryan.

"You don't want to hold anybody back," Bell said. "He's a good GM."

Normally at this time, teams are sizing up potential free agents and evaluating their minor league players. But with no guarantee the Twins will exist next season, it's impossible for Ryan to conduct business as usual.

Ryan was in the middle of interviewing replacements for Tom Kelly -- who retired last month after 15 full seasons -- when commissioner Bud Selig announced Tuesday Major League Baseball's intent to eliminate two franchises.

"The bigger the issue has become, the more I've become concerned with our longevity and how it will affect us," Ryan said. "This will have a very big domino effect."

Ryan just wants a chance to finish the job he started. Minnesota won the World Series in 1987 and 1991 and was the first American League team to draw 3 million fans in one season. After eight straight losing seasons, the Twins led the AL Central most of the past season and finished 85-77.

"We had a nice year, and we were hoping to go through a successful fall where you can build and sell some tickets," Ryan said. "When we put a decent club on the field in Minnesota, we've had the ability to draw. People in Minnesota have a fondness for our ballclub even though we've gone through some lean years. ... If they allow us to function, we'll draw again."

Contraction has chilled the trade market because of uncertainty over which teams will fold and which players will become available either as free agents or in a dispersal draft.

So it affects all teams, not just the Twins.

"We're in a wait-and-see mode," White Sox GM Kenny Williams said. "There are some issues that have to be tabled."

Expos outfielder Vladimir Guerrero and Twins pitcher Brad Radke are among the players who could be available.

"I don't think anyone is doing a lot of preparing for a dispersal draft," Phillies general manager Ed Wade said. "We still have to get some explanations and marching orders from New York."

Ryan said he will remain loyal to Twins owner Carl Pohlad and the organization.

"I'm not going to bail out on them," he said. "Unfortunately the people that work in the Metrodome, and the people that are on our major league staff, supplementary people _ they don't have deals for next year. That's my biggest concern."

Twins players are in limbo, too.

"I'm just going about my offseason," Jacque Jones said from his home in San Diego. "I can't sit around and worry. My hope would be to come back to Fort Myers for spring training, but that's not up to us."