MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - The last time the Minnesota Twins searched for a manager, Paul Molitor was in the mix. He withdrew from consideration, with the franchise's future uncertain during Major League Baseball's failed attempt to eliminate two clubs.
The job didn't open for another 13 years, but this time Molitor was ready. The challenge he accepted is to help turn around a team that lost 92 or more games in each of the last four seasons.
The Twins announced Monday they had agreed to a three-year contract for the Hall of Fame infielder and native of Minnesota, who will be introduced today as Ron Gardenhire's replacement during a news conference at Target Field.
"It's pretty exciting. I'm a huge Molitor fan," second baseman Brian Dozier said. "He's a bright individual, with a better IQ in the game of baseball than anyone I've ever been around. He's just an exceptional man."
This is the first managing job at any level for Molitor, who has the 10th-most hits in major league history. He spent 2014 as a coach on Gardenhire's staff. Prior to that, he served for 10 seasons as a minor-league instructor in the organization, a noted influence on many young players.
Three finalists who had multiple interviews with general manager Terry Ryan were Molitor, Boston Red Sox bench coach Torey Luvollo and Twins minor-league manager Doug Mientkiewicz, according to reports. Matching the organization's patient, deliberate style, Ryan took his time with the search before settling on the candidate widely believed to be the favorite all along, particularly given the franchise's penchant for promoting from within.
"I know he hasn't managed, but I don't think that should be a problem at all, just because his knowledge of the game. He's been around the game for so long now," Dozier said. "It's just taking all he's learned over his career and just going on the other side of it now."