Minnesota Twins Daily Clips Friday, July 28, 2017 Molitor
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Minnesota Twins Daily Clips Friday, July 28, 2017 Molitor wants to return to Twins; decision will be up to Falvey and Levine. Star Tribune (Miller/Neal) p. 1 Derek Falvey: Trade deadline a 'fluid situation' for Twins. Star Tribune (Miller) p. 2 Multiple reports suggest Twins could still trade Santana, other top players. Star Tribune (Rand) p. 3 Hartman: Ex-Twin Hawkins was all for taking Lewis on draft day. Star Tribune (Hartman) p. 3 Dropping down helped Twins’ Trevor Hildenberger reach the top. Pioneer Press (Berardino) p. 5 Twins trade John Ryan Murphy to Arizona for lefty Gabriel Moya. Pioneer Press (Berardino) p. 6 Twins’ double-switch drama Tuesday night remains mystifying. Pioneer Press (D’Hippoltio) p. 7 Inbox: Are Twins buyers or sellers at Deadline? MLB (Bollinger) p. 9 Garcia set for Twins debut in opener vs. A's. MLB (Bollinger & Matheson) p. 10 Thursday's best: McMahon stuffs box score for Albuquerque. MLB (Boor) p. 11 Reports: Days after buying, Twins ‘listening’ on players like Santana, Dozier, Kintzler and Garcia. ESPN 1500 (Wetmore) p. 11 Twins trade catcher John Ryan Murphy for a minor league pitcher with great numbers. ESPN 1500 p. 12 Twins exchange C Murphy for minor-league LHP Moya. Associated Press p. 13 TWINS SEND CATCHER MURPHY TO DIAMONDBACKS FOR LEFTHANDER MOYA. Baseball America (Glaser) p. 13 Latest On Brandon Kintzler, Ervin Santana. MLB Trade Rumors (Adams) p. 14 Twins Reportedly Listening To Offers On Short-Term Assets. MLB Trade Rumors (Adams) p. 14 Arizona Diamondbacks Giving John Ryan Murphy Another Chance. Call to the Pen (Hill) p. 15 Molitor wants to return to Twins; decision will be up to Falvey and Levine Phil Miller and La Velle E. Neal III | Star Tribune | July 28, 2017 LOS ANGELES – Jim Pohlad made retaining Paul Molitor as Twins’ manager in 2017 a condition of hiring Derek Falvey and Thad Levine to run the front office, and he’s glad he did. The team’s owner wants Molitor back in 2018, too — but this time, he’s not going to insist on it. “I made the call last year, and that was in an unusual circumstance,” Pohlad said this week of the 60-year-old Molitor, now in his third season at the helm of the Twins. For next season, though, “it will be up to Derek and Thad. I know how much they value the relationship between them and the manager, and the engagement with the whole baseball staff. They are going to make the decision.” They won’t make it until the end of the season, said Falvey, the Twins’ chief baseball officer, because he and Levine, the general manager, decided when they were hired last October to give virtually the entire baseball operation a year to prove itself to the new bosses. “The Twins are a proud, historic franchise with a lot of people who are deeply connected to the organization,” Falvey said. “We didn’t want to make a lot of change at the outset and bring in a whole new staff. We set a new direction and vision, let people know what expectations were of them, and then let people do their jobs. And we’re learning a lot about people.” That commitment, though, means Molitor will be a free agent at season’s end, just like Brandon Kintzler and Jaime Garcia. His three-year contract, signed five weeks after Ron Gardenhire was fired at the end of the 2014 season, runs out this fall, and there has been no discussion, from either side, about extending it. Molitor is open about his desire to return for a fourth season; he believes the Twins are just at the beginning of a resurgence fueled by young players, “and my enjoyment of the job, some of it is based on the performance of the team, but it also goes beyond winning and losing,” a reference to the pleasure he takes in helping rookies develop into steady major leaguers. “I think we’re going in the right direction.” So does Pohlad. “I really am happy with the overall product,” the owner said of a Twins season that has mostly been spent, before a downturn over the past week, in contention for an AL Central title. “That includes what Paul has done, and what most of the individual players have done. Paul is a huge part of it. … If [Falvey and Levine] ask me after the season is over, I’m not afraid to give my opinion.” “But,” Pohlad added with a laugh, “I would caution them against taking it.” He didn’t give them a choice last fall, “and I believe it was the right decision to make,” Pohlad said. “I heard all of that stuff about how nobody would want to come here with that commitment, but it didn’t seem to be an issue.” Molitor and Falvey both said their relationship has become stronger as they’ve gotten to know each other and conferred on daily decisions about the team. “The conversations going back and forth. We’re partners in this dialogue, and in each situation, it’s our first time going through it,” Falvey said. “Paul has kept open lines of communication, and I’ve been very appreciative of that.” But he’s not ready to conduct any evaluations for 2018. “We’ve talked internally about how we don’t like talking about contracts with players during the season, and that extends to our staff, too,” Falvey said. “We want guys focused on the field, and out of respect to Paul and the players, we’ll discuss that at a later date.” That’s OK with Molitor, too. He’s 191-233 as Minnesota’s manager, a record tainted by last year’s 59-103 wreckage, and while he would be pleased to sign a contract extension, “I wouldn’t say it’s a concern. I don’t have time to give it much thought, as to whether they’re even thinking about that now,” Molitor said. “They have their reasons for not putting it on the table, and that’s fine. We’re more concentrated on finishing the season the best we can.” Only one person seems to be getting impatient about his contract. “The only times I’ve thought about it is when my son [10-year-old Ben Molitor] has asked me. Ben is an avid baseball guy, and he’s curious,” Molitor said. “So he’s the only person I can think of that I’ve had any discussions about my contract.” Derek Falvey: Trade deadline a 'fluid situation' for Twins Phil Miller | Star Tribune | July 27, 2017 LOS ANGELES – The Twins will spend the weekend in Oakland, trying to put a halt to a slump they hope is mostly Dodger-induced. Their front- office executives will spend it in Minneapolis, debating whether that slump requires a change of strategy as Monday’s trade deadline nears. “It’s such a fluid situation at the deadline — where you are in the standings, people’s natural tendency to label teams as buyers or sellers, and how they flip you from one category to another,” said Derek Falvey, the Twins’ chief baseball officer. “We’ve had a couple of tough days [in Dodger Stadium] while Cleveland and Kansas City haven’t, and that leads to speculation about our intentions. Our goal remains to keep evaluating the situation right up to the deadline and do whatever possible to improve the team.” That isn’t as explicit a commitment to beef up the current roster as a week ago, when the Twins trailed Cleveland by just a half-game in the AL Central. Falvey said at the time that “we’re definitely looking at opportunities to add, no question.” On Thursday several national outlets suggested, now that the Twins have fallen 5½ games back after being swept in Los Angeles and four games out of the wild card, that Falvey and General Manager Thad Levine have begun listening to trade offers for Ervin Santana, Brandon Kintzler, Brian Dozier and even Jaime Garcia, who makes his Twins debut on Friday. Falvey laughed at the suggestion — but said things can change quickly. “There are dominoes that fall that lead to other dominoes falling. You don’t necessarily pick up steam on the third or fourth domino until the first two have fallen,” he said of ongoing trade talks, which he described as “constant.” “Each day has been fluid. We continue to field calls and make calls, and make sure we’re aware of what’s happening to the landscape of the market.” Etc. • Falvey executed one trade on Thursday, moving catcher John Ryan Murphy to Arizona for Gabriel Moya, a lefthanded reliever who is 17-for- 17 in save opportunities at Class AA Jackson this year. “Our reports identified Moya as someone who has a chance to impact us in the bullpen in the major leagues over the next couple of years,” Falvey said of the 22-year-old Venezuelan. Moya has allowed only four runs in 43⅔ innings this season, an 0.82 ERA. Murphy was acquired before the 2016 season from the Yankees for former first-round pick Aaron Hicks. Projected to be the backup catcher, Murphy, 26, hit only .146 in 26 games before being sent to Class AAA Rochester, where he was batting .222. The Twins acquired his replacement, 34-year-old Anthony 2 Recker, in their trade with Atlanta on Monday. • Garcia, who pitches in the Oakland Coliseum for the first time on Friday, “is a lefthanded version of Ervin [Santana] in a lot of ways,” Falvey said.