Major League Baseball bloggers Rhett Bollinger and Austin Laymance are reporting that Paul Molitor will become the new manager of the Minnesota Twins.
The Twins, however, have not made an announcement. The club is reportedly working on finalizing Molitor’s contract.
Molitor, 58, has been considered the front-runner for the position since the Twins dismissed Ron Gardenhire as manager on Sept. 29. The Hall of Famer served as a coach for the club last season and is familiar with the club after serving as Minnesota’s Minor League baserunning and infield coordinator from 2005-13. Molitor also had that role with the Twins in ’03 before joining the Mariners as a hitting coach in ’04.
Molitor, a St. Paul native, played 21 seasons in the Majors, including his final three with Minnesota from 1996-98. He finished his career with a .306/.369/.448 slash line with 3,319 hits in 2,683 games.
The Twins had two formal interviews with Molitor and also had two interviews with Red Sox bench coach Torey Lovullo and Class A Advanced Fort Myers manager Doug Mientkiewicz. Minnesota also interviewed White Sox third-base coach Joe McEwing, Indians bench coach Sandy Alomar Jr. and Blue Jays bench coach DeMarlo Hale for the position. The Twins also contacted Chip Hale before he was named the D-backs’ manager.
Molitor will also join Ted Williams and Ryne Sandberg as only the third man to begin his big league managerial career following his Hall of Fame induction as a player. Williams was hired as manager of the Washington Senators in 1969, three years after he was enshrined in Cooperstown. Sandberg, elected to the Hall in 2005, began managing the Phillies in August 2013.
