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Minnesota Twins Daily Clips

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

➢ Molitor: ‘I have no doubt this is where I’m supposed to be.’ (Miller) pg. 2 ➢ Souhan: Molitor should end coddling of Twins’ players. Star Tribune (Souhan) pg. 3 ➢ Reusse: Dusting off ‘Now’ as time to compete. Star Tribune (Reusse) pg. 4 ➢ How to measure Molitor’s IQ? Ask the players. Star Tribune (Scoggins) pg. 6 ➢ Next up for Molitor: Assembling a coaching staff. Star Tribune (Neal) pg. 7 ➢ My day with Molitor in ’96. Star Tribune (Souhan) pg. 8 ➢ Twins’ pace in hiring Molitor better than average. Star Tribune (Reusse) pg. 10 ➢ Patrick Reusse: Molitor’s gift of awareness is one he can share. Star Tribune (Reusse) pg. 11 ➢ TwinsCentric: Can St. Paul Twins? Star Tribune (Nelson) pg. 12 ➢ Tom Powers: Twins sees a brighter day. Pioneer Press (Powers) pg. 14 ➢ Twinsights: hopes to impress Paul Molitor next spring. Pioneer Press (Berardino) pg. 15 ➢ Twinsights: What Paul Molitor hiring means for Twins’ use of infield shifts. Pioneer Press (Berardino) pg. 16 ➢ Twinsights: on the demanding nature of Paul Molitor. Pioneer Press (Berardino) pg. 17 ➢ Twinsights: progressing well following forearm surgery. Pioneer Press (Berardino) pg. 18 ➢ Twinsights: Twins players weigh in on Paul Molitor’s hiring. Pioneer Press (Berardino) pg. 19 ➢ Tom Powers: Molitor makes sense, but will he make Twins win? Pioneer Press (Powers) pg. 20 ➢ Twins: Molitor’s attention to detail impressed players. Pioneer Press (Berardino) pg. 21 ➢ Twins hope new manager Paul ‘The Igniter’ Molitor lives up to his nickname. Pioneer Press (Berardino) pg. 23 ➢ Molitor ready to start new chapter as Twins’ Manager. MLB.com (Bollinger) pg. 24 ➢ Molitor, Ryan working together to fill coaching roles. MLB.com (Bollinger) pg. 26 ➢ Symbolism aside, Molitor right man for Twins’ job. MLB.com (Justice) pg. 27 ➢ Twins chose Molitor after three-phase search. MLB.com (Bollinger) pg. 29 ➢ Mauer, Perkins excited for Molitor’s managerial rise. MLB.com (Bollinger) pg. 30 ➢ For Molitor, hiring by Twins comes at right time. MLB.com (Moore) pg. 31 ➢ Molitor: ‘This is where I’m supposed to be.’ Associated Press (Krawczynski) pg. 33 ➢ Molitor not intimidated by lack of managing experience. 1500ESPN.com (Wetmore) pg. 34 ➢ Next up: filling out coaching staff and hiring a new pitching . 1500ESPN.com (Wetmore) pg. 35 ➢ Ryan on talks with : Cubs job offer escalated so quickly. 1500ESPN.com (Wetmore) pg. 36 ➢ Twins have expressed interest in . 1500ESPN.com (Wolfson) pg. 36 ➢ Mackey: Twins’ hiring of Molitor brings potential, but also questions. 1500ESPN.com (Mackey) pg. 37 ➢ Molitor on managing Twins: ‘I’m coming here to win.’ North (Mason) pg. 39 ➢ MN columnist: Molitor will crack down on those wimpy players with piddly little concussions. NBCSports(Calcaterra) pg. 40

Molitor: ‘I have no doubt this is where I’m supposed to be’

Phil Miller / Star Tribune – 11/5/14

Things will be different, Paul Molitor vowed Tuesday as he took control of a baseball team for the first time. The St. Paul native, hired as the 13th manager in Twins history, might change elements as sweeping as the starting rotation or as mundane as the bunt sign. He understudied for last season and has been in the Twins organization for a decade, but as owner said at Molitor’s introductory news conference, “I suspect we’ll see him doing a lot of things differently, during games and in the clubhouse.”

Which is fine, as far as it goes. But those aren’t the changes Molitor was hired to make. Fortunately, he also pledged to address the only transformation that matters: “I’m coming here to win.”

“It’s very important to lay that out there right from the start,” Molitor said, despite the Twins’ average of 96 losses over the past four seasons. “Things can change very dramatically at this level, very quickly. … I want [players] to believe they can win now. I hope to set that tone right away.”

Nothing about his promotion to the Twins’ top on-field job happened right away — referred to the process as “our five-week ordeal” — but Molitor said the wait didn’t bother him, especially considering how long it took him to get here.

“It’s been a long journey for me. I’ve had opportunities to think about this for many years,” the 58-year-old Hall of Fame player said. “I have no doubt I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be today.”

And where he’ll be next season: in the . Molitor was the winner of what evolved into a three-man derby to become only the third Twins manager in 29 seasons, with Class AAA Rochester manager and Red Sox bench coach the other two contenders. Pohlad flew to to meet Lovullo, summoned Glynn from Venezuela (where he’s managing a winter-league team) for a one-last-look interview, and said he was impressed by both.

But he agreed with Ryan’s recommendation that Molitor, who grew up about 10 miles from , fit the team’s needs best.

“Any of the three would have been great, I had no doubt about that,” said Pohlad, who insisted the decision was Ryan’s, not his. “But Paul is an insider. He has a lot of institutional knowledge, about the team and the players coming up. Mostly, Paul’s been a winner in just about everything he’s done.”

Maybe, but he’s never done this before. Molitor, who agreed to a three-year contract but declined to disclose its terms, becomes the first Twins manager since Ray Miller in 1985 to assume the job with zero managerial experience at any level, though he and Ryan agreed that a veteran coaching staff, still to be appointed, should take care of any unforeseen problems. In particular, Molitor said, he wants to hire an accomplished pitching coach to help organize the staff, though “it’s important for me to be involved, too.”

One he’ll be managing — Twins closer , like Molitor a alumnus — believes the learning curve will be fairly shallow.

“If he has a weakness, it’s probably in that,” Perkins said, “But he’s got pretty good aptitude for learning.”

For teaching, too, which is what especially attracted Ryan to the new manager. Molitor demonstrated his aptitude for preparation and his patience for tutoring during the 2014 season on Gardenhire’s staff, Ryan said, and his insight into the game is legendary.

“I have never heard anybody question his baseball savvy,” Ryan said.

Questions about past

No, the doubts Molitor had to overcome were about his commitment to such an all-consuming post, his age and experience, and his admittedly problematic past. Molitor and his wife, Destini, have two preteen children at home, and “there was some misperception about how high my desire was to take this job,” Molitor said. But he discussed the job with his family at length, considered how he’ll handle the daily workload of a major league manager, and made peace with the commitment.

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“If you’re in, you’re in. You can’t say, ‘Let’s see how it goes the first year,’ ” Molitor said. “And I think [the Twins] needed to hear that from me.”

Actually, Ryan said he wasn’t as concerned about that as Molitor suspected. A decade of traveling to the organization’s farm clubs, patiently teaching hitting, baserunning and fielding, went a long way toward convincing him that Molitor was as willing as he is able.

“For that man to go down to the minor leagues for a decade — if that’s not commitment, I don’t know what is,” Ryan said.

Still, the Twins conducted a background check on their new manager, and had a frank conversation with him about the more inauspicious aspects of his past. Molitor has admitted to a period of heavy drinking and frequent drug use while he was a player, he fathered children out of wedlock and endured a contentious divorce from his first wife.

“There are areas of his history that he’s not proud of, and we addressed that to make sure that it’s not a part of his present or his future. That was discussed freely and openly and in depth,” Ryan said. “I’m satisfied, as is ownership, that we will not have to worry about that.”

Added Twins President Dave St. Peter: “We understand that we’re all human, we’ve all made mistakes. The great thing about Paul is he’s owned up to that.”

He does, unflinchingly; in fact, Molitor said, that background might someday actually do some good.

“It might sound a little funny, but I think experiencing some of the things I have … are going to help me. When I can talk to a player about things he’s doing or not doing or needs to do, I can relate certain things that I had to learn for myself. … That’s more powerful than some guy that comes to talk about, ‘Don’t do it.’ ”

Handling frustration

Overcoming his past wasn’t easy, but neither is baseball, Molitor said, and there were few better than the Cretin graduate who needed only one minor league season to blossom into one of the game’s greatest hitters. Such ability has not always led to managerial success in previous cases of Hall of Famers in the dugout, but Molitor is confident he can be an exception.

“I will never forget the game is very, very difficult … but we’re going to try to get these guys to improve,” he said. “Tell them again, help them again, support them again, encourage them again. Stay after it. Not [give in to] frustration that they don’t get it.”

He plans to expand the Twins’ use of statistical tools, be open to progressive ideas about using players and positioning fielders, and especially focus on creating a clubhouse culture that puts aside personal achievement for team goals. His existing relationship with minor league players who will soon graduate to the majors is a big advantage, he said.

And if it doesn’t work out? Molitor said he’s not worried about damaging his legacy. As Jeff Idelson, president of the National Baseball Hall of Fame reminded him via text message this weekend, “Relax. Enjoy this. No matter what you do, your plaque is going to stay.”

Souhan: Molitor should end coddling of Twins’ players

Jim Souhan / Star Tribune – 11/5/14

As a player, Paul Molitor demonstrated competitiveness not with gestures or celebrations, but with stone-faced, head-first slides into spikes. As a coach, Molitor almost always masked his emotions.

In 2001, he hinted at the fires within. The baby Twins, having led the Central for most of the season, were ambushed by a veteran Indians team in Cleveland late in the season. Molitor, then coaching under , thought the opponents and umpires were displaying disrespectfulness to his team. It took multiple people to keep him from bursting onto the field to physically make a point.

Last season, as the Twins lost 92 games, Molitor — promoted from coach to manager on Tuesday — again tried to remain below boiling temperature. 3

“There were times last year when we’d get on the team bus after a loss and Paul would look over at me and just shake his head,” Twins assistant general manager Rob Antony said. “He had that look in his eye, like he was ready to explode. And I know that look, because I was sitting on that bus thinking, ‘That was a game we should have won.’

“We won 70 games last year. I think we should have won 78. To go from 78 to 88, or something close, I don’t think that’s unreasonable. I think we should be competitive this year.”

At his first news conference as manager, Molitor said: “I’m coming here to win.”

His first order of business should be introducing a new mentality to the clubhouse.

During their four consecutive losing seasons, the Twins tried to exercise caution with injured or bruised players. Anyone complaining of an ache was given an extra day or two off. There is logic in that approach. There is also danger. The Twins clubhouse became a place where you could collect a check without actually taking the field.

One of the early tests of Molitor’s tenure will be his handling of his best player, .

Both grew up in St. Paul. Both played baseball at Cretin High. Both had the early years of their careers defined by constant injuries. The difference between them is important. Molitor’s desire to play was obvious. Mauer’s is not.

When the guy making $23 million a year begs out of the lineup because of a bruise, it’s difficult for the manager to push others to play through pain.

Molitor’s predecessor, Ron Gardenhire, believed in maintaining cordial relations with key players. That approach worked for most of a decade. It appeared to fail in recent years with Mauer.

Can Molitor play the bad guy?

“Yes,” he said. “It is a necessary part of the job. But for me, it’s kind of like surgery. It’s kind of the last option. I want to reach people in different ways before that needs to be done. We all know that different players have different buttons that need to be pushed.

“We can all talk nice and fluffy about, ‘Well, you can all get along, and then they’ll play for you.’ In reality, not everyone is going to fit into that mode. They’re going to challenge you along the way, and see where you stand. I will choose other things first, but yes, there will be times when you need to be tough.”

Does Mauer expect to be managed differently? “Well, I’d like to think I don’t need a lot of managing, as long as I get in the lineup,” he said.

Does closer Glen Perkins, who is friends with Mauer and an admirer of Molitor’s, believe the new manager will have to push this group of players?

“I think that there’s an inherent respect for him that’s going to make guys do the things they have to do,” he said. “I don’t think there’s going to be any lackadaisicalness. With him, it’s the same thing as with Terry Ryan. When Terry walks into the room, you stand up and shake his hand. He commands respect. Paul Molitor is the same way. Nobody is going to feel right about trying to get away with certain things.

“The culture changes with just hiring him, and him being our leader. It’s a welcome change.”

Reusse: Dusting off ‘Now’ as time to compete

Patrick Reusse / Star Tribune – 11/5/14

Paul Molitor was having his No. 4 retired by the in a ceremony at County Stadium in June 1999. He had broken in with the Brewers as a 21-year-old rookie in 1978 and the baseball scene was extremely lively in Milwaukee for the next half-dozen seasons. 4

“Those were great days, when it was easy to come to the ballpark fired up,” Molitor said on the day of the ceremony.

Molitor’s next nine seasons in Milwaukee, from 1984 through 1992, were not so much fun.

“We kept hearing about the young guys who were on the way to make us winners again,” Molitor said. “Most of those players never made much of an impact.”

On Tuesday, Molitor was introduced as the Twins’ 13th manager. The highlight of his extensive question and answering session for me was discovering that, in 15 years, he had not changed his opinion on the perpetual wait for “young guys” who were going to change the franchise.

Asked about his expectations for the 2015 season, Molitor said: “I always believe going into a season. Every , you start imagining scenarios where a team is going to win.

“We’ve been asking the fans to ‘hang in there, help is on the way’ … We have to worry about what’s going on up here. Now is important.”

Molitor didn’t blame Milwaukee fans when attendance at County Stadium went from 2.4 million in 1983, the year after the Brewers reached the , to under 1.3 million in 1986 in a third consecutive losing season.

And he clearly doesn’t blame Twins fans for the combination of the anger and apathy that has become prevalent after four consecutive seasons of losses ranging from 92 through 99.

It was both refreshing and surprising that Molitor made no mention of and Miguel Sano and J.O. Berrios, the prospects the Twins have been trying to push as their vision of the future since the 2012 draft.

I expected that to be part of Molitor’s to the media and the public on Tuesday, particularly with him having spent 11 of the previous 13 years working as a roving instructor in the Twins’ minor leagues.

I actually had that 15-year-old quote about the wait for young guys in Milwaukee waiting to toss at Molitor on Tuesday.

There was no need for that. He took care of that by talking about the importance of the present, and not some pie-in-the-sky future with Sano as the next , Buxton a leaner version of and Berrios as Prince J.O. to King Felix.

“I’m coming here to win,” Molitor said early in his remarks. “I think it’s important to lay that out.”

After the worst four-season stretch in Twins history, after 265-383 (.409) in Years 2 through 5 in a spectacular ballpark, it’s hard to disagree.

It’s time to fully judge the Twins’ baseball operation on 2015, not on the winning baseball the team played for the decade from 2001 through 2010, and not on the oomph the lineup might carry on some summer day later in this decade.

Hey, I watched Buxton for three days in the last year and saw the movements of an athlete made for baseball. He also has developed a habit of getting hurt in various ways.

Molitor can empathize. He went through the same problems in Milwaukee, with breaks and pulled muscles, before becoming an every-day presence in the lineup as a later in his career.

“I’ve gone from a tin man to an ironman,” he said near the end of his playing days.

Perhaps, Buxton will do that much sooner. Perhaps, Buxton, Sano and Berrios, and , and Zach Jones as hard- throwers in the bullpen … perhaps, we might see some of them next season.

But for now, Paul Molitor has another concern. Now.

“Now is important,” he said. 5

If the Twins are looking for a slogan for 2015, there it is. And if it blows up, and becomes a punch line for a cynical media and angry fans to use against the Twins with another team buried in the standings, so what?

The ridicule could not be stacked any higher than it has been since the apocalyptic 19-50 finish to the 2011 season.

Now Is Important.

Somebody with the Twins had to say that with conviction. And there’s no one better to do so than a new manager with first-hand knowledge that the wait for can’t-miss young guys can be endless.

How to measure Molitor’s baseball IQ? Ask the players

Chip Scoggins / Star Tribune – 11/5/14

Paul Molitor’s baseball intelligence and situational awareness helped make him a Hall of Fame player. Now the Twins are counting on their new manager to pass that knowledge on to his players.

Baseball IQ sounds like a nebulous term, though. What does that even mean? Don’t most people in know a lot about baseball?

Three high-profile Twins players were asked for specific examples that illustrate Molitor’s advanced baseball intelligence:

Joe Mauer

“I was in A-ball. He was roving around [the minor league system]. I remember I was hitting third. I was sitting at the top of the dugout just next to him.

“He watched the pitcher throw seven or eight warm-up tosses. By the second pitch of the game, he knew every pitch the guy was throwing. That kind of opened up my eyes. I was 18, 19 years old at the time. I was like, ‘You know what, I’m going to be around this guy and try and learn as much information as I can.’ ”

Brian Dozier

One day Molitor asked Dozier about his routine before the start of a road series. Dozier told him that he studies video of opposing that series and takes and infield practice.

Molitor gave Dozier a new routine, one that he followed as a player. It started with him getting to the ballpark early to study the field because conditions change throughout a season.

“First things first, he would take out five or 10 balls and roll them down the third base line from home plate just to see which way the grass was leaning that day,” Dozier said. “Just to kind of see which way it was sloping that day. If he had to put down a drag bunt, he knew if he had to be closer to the pitcher or it harder to third, how thick the grass was.”

Then Molitor moved to first base. He’d take an imaginary 14-foot lead and study the cut of the grass.

“The cut on the grass at first base is different at every park,” Dozier said. “He would get his lead and then visualize where that cut on the grass is right beneath his feet. So he would know the cut of the grass is at my right foot in a 14-foot lead. He would say, ‘OK, this is where my lead is tonight.’ ”

Does the cut of grass matter that much?

“One bunt every week adds up,” Dozier said. “That’s 23 more hits. That can make you a .280 hitter. He tries to find ways around everything to get that edge. The list goes on and on. That’s why he has one of the best IQs that I’ve ever been around.”

Glen Perkins 6

At spring training a few years ago, Molitor took a group of pitchers to first base to discuss .

“I know if I’m on first base, something went horribly wrong,” Perkins said. “It would have been easy to not pay attention because, ‘Ah, this doesn’t apply to me.’ ”

Instead, Perkins found himself enthralled by Molitor’s lesson about how to study ’ positioning and whether they’re righthanded or lefthanded because that could mean the difference in an extra base.

“You need to know if they’re righthanded or lefthanded so if they’re running to a gap to get a ball, that they’re going to have to turn and throw,” Perkins said, recalling Molitor’s message. “You have to know who is hitting, know where those guys are playing [in the field].

“All these little things he was talking about with pitchers about taking an extra base. We’re probably never going to get on base, let alone take an extra base. But hearing him coach, hearing him talk about things he saw and thought about when he played, it was amazing. It was very entertaining listening to him and his thought process on the field.”

Next up for Molitor: Assembling a coaching staff

La Velle E. Neal III / Star Tribune – 11/5/14

Paul Molitor is the new manager of the Twins, but another way for a struggling franchise to show it is embracing change is how the coaching staff is assembled.

Now that Molitor is officially in place, the Twins will look for a staff that can help reverse the culture of losing that has taken root in recent seasons.

“I can’t tell you how many overlaps [from the previous staff] there are going to be and how everything is going to land,” Molitor said Tuesday. “My biggest concern is that I want to make sure I have all the things covered that I need to have.”

The process began in earnest Tuesday afternoon, when Molitor and General Manager Terry Ryan met to go over candidates.

One Twins official said Ryan had a list of about 20 potential pitching coaches and about 30 potential bench coaches that was being whittled.

“Since we began this process, every time I had a thought or someone would come to me [with a name], I would write it down,” Ryan said. “Some of them were more realistic than others. We have a lengthy list of names, but now we will move forward and see whether or not they will fit.”

There are all kinds of possibilities for coaching positions. Does Molitor’s buddy and former Brewers teammate, , want to return to coaching? Would someone such as former Toronto manager or recently fired Cubs manager Rick Renteria be the right fit as a bench coach? Is it time to promote Class AAA Rochester manager Gene Glynn, who knocked it out of the park during his managerial interview and was a finalist along with Molitor and Torey Lovullo?

“We’ve got some people within the organization that we’d like to talk to and we have people outside the organization that we will address,” Ryan said. “And we’ll hire seven people here that fit and have the same type of philosophy and teaching ability we need.”

Interviewing candidates from within the organization could make Twins fans who want sweeping changes cringe. But there’s a chance that someone from last year’s staff — hitting coach , bench coach , third base coach , first base coach and bullpen coach Bobby Cuellar — could wind up on Molitor’s staff. Only pitching coach Rick Anderson has said he’s not coming back next season.

“There’s probably a lot of people who probably want us to get rid of everybody, don’t bring up any minor league people,” Molitor said. “Go out and get new people, new faces, new voices. As Terry [Ryan] alluded to, we’re considering people outside. We’d be foolish not to consider people inside. There’s some really good people here.”

The pitching coach will be a key hire, since Molitor never has handled a pitching staff. 7

“Having someone with experience is really important to me,” Molitor said. “I couldn’t sit here and map out getting a 12-man staff ready for the season when you don’t know who those 12 are going to be, mixing and matching your and all that stuff. So I’m going to need help with that. I will certainly rely very heavily on my pitching coach. It’s going to be one of the more important roles that I fill.”

Twins President Dave St. Peter said some of the candidates for bench coach are former managers, and Molitor would like to have that type of experience by his side.

“I would like that a lot,” Molitor said. “It kind of depends on how all the pieces fit.”

Ryan and Molitor stressed that they will make the final choices together. Those decisions could lead to a shake-up throughout the organization, if they promote Glynn or others from the minor leagues.

“I’m not going to do anything unilaterally,” Ryan said. “It will be a combination of me and Paul and some of the people in our baseball department. We want to make sure we have a good mix. He’s going to have a tremendous amount of input on who will coach.”

My day with Molitor in ‘96

Jim Souhan / Star Tribune – 11/4/14

I spent a day with Paul Molitor in St. Paul when he signed to play for the Twins. Here's the story, from February of 1996:

Paul Molitor drives up to his alma mater, Cretin High, parks and tries to cross the street. Four of the drivers who pass recognize him and honk. He strolls, bowlegged and unhurried, to the fence and gazes across the baseball diamonds that nurtured him. You see wire backstops, knee-high benches and ice-encrusted snow. Molitor sees memories.

The St. Paul native, future Hall of Famer and new Twin returned to his home state last month. At 39, he bought a house in Edina, played in an alumni game for the University of Minnesota and reacquainted himself with Minnesota winters.

Molitor had not returned to his high school, now called Cretin-Derham Hall, where he shone, or the Oxford playgrounds in the heart of St. Paul, where he first flickered, until this chilly Tuesday morning. What he found was what you never lose: dormant roots and evergreen recollections.

"Some places and routes and buildings have changed, but this still feels like the place I grew up," said Molitor, who will take the field for the start of spring training today in Fort Myers, Fla. "Whether it's cruising through the old neighborhoods or some of the old stomping grounds, it definitely feels like home."

This is the blue-collar city that produced three likely future Hall of Fame players - Molitor, and . Molitor is poised to join Morris and Winfield, both retired, on the all-time Twins roster, the culmination of a dream that bloomed in Molitor's youth and withered in recent years. "I remember so much about following the Twins as a kid," Molitor said. "My dad taking me out in the back yard and throwing balls just high enough over the fence so I had to jump for them, so I could be . Taking batting practice with my T-shirt on, and watching and Herb [Carneal] broadcast the games. And being lucky enough to have my dad take me out for my birthday, getting Knothole Gang tickets and sitting in the upper deck in left field of Met Stadium.

"I remember '65, when we went to the Series. They were still playing daytime World Series in those days, so we all tried to talk our teachers into getting TVs into the classrooms.

"I remember and and , and being the first guy ever to have a big chew in his mouth. And in '67, watching the race come down to the last two days with the Red Sox, and losing out and getting hurt. I remember trying to get my homework done each day in time to catch the game."

So does his sister, Judy Gergen. "After the Twins went to the World Series in '65, I was 5 and Paul was 9 and he would trap me in a room and make me memorize the names and faces of all the Twins on the baseball cards," Gergen said. "He'd say, `You have to get five in a row to get out.' To this day, I'll never forget Jim Kaat and Allison and all those faces."

This year, Molitor's face will adorn another baseball card, this time framed by a Twins cap.

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Sound advice

The family's favorite story: "To help pay for his Cretin tuition, he would ride into Town and Country to caddie," Gergen said. "One day he had to play in a baseball tournament, and he told the caddie master he needed a couple of days off. The guy turned to him and said, `Paul, you have to decide whether you want to play baseball . . . or make some money.' "

That was a few millions ago, when Molitor was playing at Linwood playground and St. Luke's grade school, when he was happy with a broken-in glove and a stiff, new uniform.

"I was in the fourth grade, and I always thought it was so cool that the kids that made the baseball team in grade school got to go home at lunch and put on their uniforms and wear them the rest of the day when they had a game that afternoon," Molitor said. "When I got to sixth grade and made the team, I was the only kid who got to go home in the afternoons. When you're looking to make a move on with the girls at that age, that matters to you."

His first homecoming

"After like my first or second year, they asked me to come back to Linwood when we were in town for a series," Molitor said of his early days with the Milwaukee Brewers. "We happened to be here for their first game of the summer, and I went there to throw out the first pitch. I couldn't believe how much closer the fences seemed."

Molitor, the fourth youngest of eight children, moved several times in St. Paul. "When I first moved, I originally lived on Grand and Paschal, which is a little west of Oxford," Molitor said. That's when I played Little League ball at Highland Groveland. That was when I was 6, 7, 8 years old. When I moved to Portland and Oxford, I started going to the Linwood playground, and played pee wees.

"I think my second year I was playing, I was 7, some of the parents were complaining to the league that I shouldn't be able to pitch. . . . They always tried to jump me a category or two above my age."

Carol Rolland, another of Molitor's sisters, remembers an opponent forfeiting because Molitor was pitching. "When he pitched St. Luke's to the city championship, the St. Paul Pioneer Press headline called him `the diminutive righthander from St. Luke's.' He was just a little thing."

Roland and her family witnessed Molitor's progression from mighty mite to major leaguer. "When he was really young, he played catch with my dad in the back yard," Rolland said. "After a while he'd have to go on the other side of the garage to throw, then he graduated to having Dad at the other side of the house. We all watched from the window."

Visiting Oxford

"This has really changed around here," Molitor says as we pull alongside the Oxford playground, home to the fledgling careers of Molitor and Winfield. "I played here about six years, from the seventh grade until I was a senior in high school. I played ball here at the junior level, VFW, American Legion ball, and for four summers I had a job here as the groundskeeper.

"Yeah, I'd take care of all the baseball fields. I'd come down in the mornings, work in the field all day and then just stay here for games and practices. To say it politically correct, this was the inner city. It was mostly black kids that played down here. A couple of years I worked here, one of my jobs was coaching the pee wee Little League team. I was kind of like the White Shadow. I had all these young black kids on my team and until I earned their respect, man . . .

"It was funny. They told me if I didn't make them stop running, they'd get their big brothers on me."

Oxford is where Molitor began his tutelage under Bill Peterson, who would coach him in VFW, Legion and high school ball. It's where he watched Winfield play.

"I was a bit of a rebel when I played here," Molitor said. "See that hill up there? I was biking to Oxford one year, and I used to try to coast through Marshall Av., which was pretty busy, without stopping. I was riding my bike barefoot to practice and I ran right into the back of a car, flipped over and cut up my toes."

Peterson instituted the "no-barefoot rule," marking the first time Molitor would have an effect on his hometown playground. He's glad he survived to have a more dramatic effect.

"One day I was raking the diamond and Bill yelled, `Come on Molly, let's go,' " Molitor said. "This guy came stalking around with a gun, looking for someone. We ducked into the building, and nothing came of it. This was a rough place in those days, but I'm glad I 9 had the experience of playing here.

"It was a little intimidating. That's one of the reasons I respected Bill so much. This was a tough area to work in. I think it helped me, to work and play with the kids down here. That interracial interaction helped me avoid some of the intimidation some people have when they come to the major league level.

"I remember when I was in eighth grade, I'd come to practice and watch Dave Winfield and see 100 to 200 people watching us practice. You sense that something was special."

Molitor glances at the trees. "I wish my mom were still alive - she would be perfect to talk about this," Molitor said. "She used to tell me about going to Lexington Park when she was a kid, watching the Saints - , Johnny Roseboro, the great players that came through town. But she used to think she made me nervous at games.

"A part of the challenge of my games was trying to figure out which tree she was hiding behind."

Re-visiting Cretin

At some ballparks, you merely hit a home . At Cretin, you achieve status by hitting a fly over the track, up the hill, over the fence and into the alley that runs past The Nook, the neighborhood bar. "The Nook was a big target," Molitor said. "We had a great home- field advantage. Not often can you run down a curb, across a track, up another curb and up a hill, and still be in play."

Gergen remembers Molitor as a chameleon: Clean-cut in his Cretin uniform, bearded and wild-looking during the summer. "He was usually quiet and serious, but he could be funny, too. When he was young, Mom and Dad would give him magic tricks, which he loved," she said. "From time to time I would him. But primarily I just remember folding all the laundry that was created by all of his baseball uniforms."

Molitor got to Cretin, and later to the `U', by hitchhiking, because he didn't have a car. "When you had the Cretin military uniform on, people were more likely to pick you up," he said. " `Those good Cretin boys.' We fooled them back then, too."

On this Tuesday morning, Molitor, having visited Oxford and cruised past St. Luke's, returns to Cretin. Someone has hung a poster of him in a Brewers uniform in a place of honor on the baseball backstop. "It's been a while since I've been here," Molitor said. "That's the first time I've seen that up there. It's about time we got that Brewers logo down, don't you think?"

Then Molitor strolled, bowlegged and unhurried, to his car.

Twins’ pace in hiring Molitor better than average

Patrick Reusse / Star Tribune – 11/4/14

The Twins had a week-long homestand to end the 1998 season. Paul Molitor had turned 42 that August and it was anticipated that he was going to retire after 21 seasons in the big leagues.

There had been official announcement. Molitor wanted to reflect at season’s end and make sure retirement was actually what he wanted.

“Decisions that are spontaneous can be the right decisions,’’ Molitor said during that homestand. “But I think that’s the exception.’’

Carl Pohlad became the owner of the Twins in 1984. A year later, in June, Pohlad was convinced by team president Howard Fox to fire and replace him as manager with Ray Miller, Baltimore’s pitching coach.

Miller lasted for 239 games, before being fired at the urging of Andy MacPhail, the vice president for baseball operations. Third-base coach Tom Kelly was named interim manager for the final 23 games (12-11) of the 1986 season.

Pohlad’s reputation as a businessman was to be methodical, so these managerial moves surely were spontaneous by his standards. You would have to say that Pohlad and now his heirs returned to the family tradition when it came to decision-making.

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The 1986 season ended on Oct. 5 and took to Nov. 25 (51) days for to go along with MacPhail’s determination to bring back Kelly as the full-time manager. For over a month, there were calls almost nightly to Kelly’s then- home and his answer was the same:

“Haven’t heard a thing. They are still deciding, I guess.’’

Kelly stayed for 15 seasons. He resigned out of nowhere on Oct. 12, 2001. The media was quick to suggest that third-base coach would be Kelly’s replacement.

That was the case, although it took until Jan. 4, 2002 (84 days) for General Manager Terry Ryan and Carl Pohlad to complete the process and make it official. A major reason for that was the contraction issue still was hanging over the Twins during Ryan’s search process.

“It probably would have taken about the same time to decide on Gardy as manager as it did for this hire, without the contraction situation,’’ Ryan said Tuesday at the news conference introducing Molitor as the 13th manager in Twins history.

Gardenhire had a successful nine-year run, followed by four bad seasons, and he was fired on Sept. 29. The assumption was that Molitor, long associated with the organization, would be replacement.

It wound up taking 36 days from Gardenhire’s firing to Molitor’s introduction as manager. Ryan specifically thanked in-house candidates and Gene Glynn, and outside candidates Torey Lovullo and Sandy Alomar Jr. for their involvement in the interview process.

The media outlets are more numerous and the sporting public much more engaged than when the Twins last hired a manager. There had been many bellows of this question: “What’s taking so long?’’

Thirty-six days. I’d call this better-than-average speed when it comes to Pohlad-style decision-making. And remember what the guy getting the job said 16 years ago, before walking away as a player:

“Decisions that are spontaneous can be the right decisions. But I think that’s the exception.’’

Patrick Reusse: Molitor’s gift of awareness is one he can share

Patrick Reusse / Star Tribune – 11/4/14

The Twins were in for a Friday night game on Aug. 2, 1996. They were trailing 7-5 entering the eighth and were in the midst of a rally.

Paul Molitor walked on a wild pitch. He took a hard turn at first base as Boston Mike Stanley retrieved the ball at the backstop screen.

“I thought the play there was to go for second and force Stanley to make that long throw,” Molitor said. “If I had done that and Stanley had thrown, could have walked home from third. But there was only one out. If anything bad happened with me going to second, I didn’t want to take us out of the inning.”

Molitor’s decision to stay at first proved astute, as the Twins rallied for five runs. Later, coughed up the lead in the bottom of the ninth, but that’s another issue.

The point is, Molitor always has been given credit for having fantastic instincts for the game — particularly running the bases. Yet, what was on display on that long-ago night in Boston was more awareness than a natural gift.

“You don’t have to have good speed to be a good baserunner,” Molitor said then. “The most important thing is to run through the possibilities in your mind beforehand. What’s the game situation … the outs, the score, the pitcher? Is it a lefthanded-throwing or righthanded? 11

“You have to be aware of those things when you’re deciding to be aggressive.”

A year later, Molitor was in his second season with the Twins, and the team’s decline had become more precipitous. That had no impact on the awareness that Molitor, closing in on his 41st birthday, brought to his game.

The Twins were playing against the Brewers in County Stadium. Milwaukee catcher Kelly Stinnett tossed a return throw over the head of 6-foot-7 pitcher Jeff D’Amico. Molitor reacted instantly and scored from third to give the Twins a lead.

“We were speculating after the game on how many players would have been sauntering back to third base with their back turned when that happened,” Twins manager Tom Kelly said then.

“Paul Molitor scored that run because he is ready to play. When the play is over, it’s over. That play wasn’t over. The ball was not back in the pitcher’s glove.”

Awareness. Not instinct. And awareness can be gained, if ballplayers are willing to listen.

Molitor officially becomes the 13th manager in Twins history when he is introduced at a news conference Tuesday morning at Target Field.

He cannot input the instincts for baseball to others that he brought with him from the dirt of St. Paul playgrounds. He will not find the powerful forearms and wrists that allowed him to snap the bat for 3,362 hits (including postseason) in the big leagues on many hitters.

What he can offer to those players is all that can be gained on a big-league diamond with awareness — understanding if the risk is worth the reward, realizing a play doesn’t end until the ball is in the pitcher’s glove.

Molitor has talked about such matters with players coming through the Twins organization for most of the past decade. He had that role again as a coach on Ron Gardenhire’s staff in 2014, a fourth consecutive lost season that cost Gardy his job.

Now Molitor has a chance to push for awareness as a voice of authority, as the boss, not as an adviser dropping into Fort Myers, Fla., or Rochester, N.Y., for a week at a time.

Twins followers have a right to be skeptical, because no matter the commitment to a brighter way of playing baseball, it isn’t going to help Molitor succeed if General Manager Terry Ryan fails to make a drastic change in this team’s pitching assets.

What is a nonsensical rap on this hire is the old idea that Molitor was such a great player that he will have a tough time relating to lesser players. We’ve heard that about previous Hall of Famers, but this is not a baseball man who is going to look at a player and give up when he sees imperfections.

From conversations past, most during the three years at the end of his career with the Twins, I found a baseball man more inclined to help than to be overwhelmed by frustration.

That help will continue as long as a player is willing to listen and gain awareness. If he chooses instead to keep sauntering back to third with his back turned, then I’m guessing a different, harder edge will appear with Paul Molitor as a boss.

TwinsCentric: Can St. Paul save Twins?

Nick Nelson / Star Tribune – 11/5/14

My top concern as a Twins fan is winning baseball games, and I know I'm not alone in that sentiment. But I'm also a sucker for a compelling storyline, and the hiring of Paul Molitor as the club's new manager has the makings of a pretty great one.

In an excellent column for the Star Tribune this past weekend laying out Molitor's many managerial merits, Jim Souhan included this tidbit, which I rather enjoyed: 12

"The Twins’ only concern about Molitor throughout their relationship with him has been his occasional reticence to choose a defined career path. That is no longer a concern. Two people who know Molitor well said this week that he is driven to become a great manager, and to resurrect a franchise he loves."

I've been a Twins fan and a Twin Cities resident for most my life, so I can't help but get a little revved up by that dynamic. Molitor was born here. He grew up as a fan. He picked up his 3,000th hit in a Twins uniform and retired here. And he's spent nearly his entire post-playing career serving this organization in some capacity.

His ties to the franchise and the area are strong and deep. Molitor was born in St. Paul, and coincidentally, that might become his nickname locally if he can succeed in turning around this historically bad losing spell and shaping the Twins back into contenders.

Fortunately, things are set up very favorably for the new skipper. Regardless of who was going to be in charge, the Twins are positioned to make significant strides in the coming years, with their vaunted prospect core reaching or rapidly approaching the majors.

Helping those young players develop and realize their potential is the primary task in front of the new regime, and Molitor is as well equipped as anyone for that responsibility. He has familiarity with all the upcoming prospects, not to mention those who've already arrived, through his years as a roving minor-league instructor.

By now you've probably heard Molitor referred to as a baseball "genius" or "savant," with various individuals remarking on his unique and useful insights into the game. He has also been lauded by many players for his teaching skills, and for his ability to connect with Spanish-speaking kids in the minors. These are critical strengths considering the nature of the job he's taking on.

There are plenty of things for fans to like about Molitor. But a part of me does wonder if the new manager might prove to be a little too vanilla for the tastes of some.

We all know about the rancor that has surrounded Joe Mauer during the team's recent lean years. Some complain that the highly compensated star doesn't assume enough of a vocal leadership role. His calm demeanor can be viewed as overly passive, riling up invested onlookers.

The parallels between Minnesota's new manager and its longest-tenured player are numerous. They were born in the same town and went to the same high school. They fit the same playing mold -- disciplined hitters with picturesque swings and moderate power, delivering value largely through batting average and on-base percentage. (Both also were forced to switch to less demanding positions in their 30s due to injuries.)

And, from a personality standpoint, although Molitor hasn't had a major public presence in many years, he does seem to offer traits similar to Mauer. Both are studious and cerebral in their approaches to the game. Both are fairly soft-spoken.

The cynic could see this as a problem. Ammunition for frustrated fans to unleash on the newly appointed manager if things don't take an rapid turn for the better. It's a sad thought, but we've seen it before.

Then again, one might also suggest that this pairing opens the door for a legendary tale of hometown redemption. If the Twins are to turn things around in short order, a resurgence from Mauer could be equally important to the impacts made by prospects entering the fold. And Molitor will be at the head of it all, imparting wisdom and rejuvenating a franchise to which he has dedicated a third of his life.

Two generational baseball talents from Minnesota's capitol city. One, a 58-year-old Hall of Famer managing for the first time; the other, a 31-year-old former MVP (and perhaps future Hall of Famer) looking to prove that he can still be the centerpiece of a contending team. One must lead on the field -- through his performance if not his comportment -- and the other must learn to lead from the dugout.

It'd be a hell of a story.

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Tom Powers: Twins manager Paul Molitor sees a brighter day

Tom Powers / Pioneer Press – 11/5/14

Calm, guarded, complex.

Those are the three words used by Twins GM Terry Ryan to describe new manager Paul Molitor. It sounds more like an online dating service profile, except that it's missing "long walks on the beach at sunset" and "watching foreign movies." And that description came as a bit of a shock to a few of us old-school guys who envision a baseball manager as a guy who scratches, spits and swears.

Complex? We ain't got time for complex.

"Things can change, and they can change in a hurry," Molitor said Tuesday at his introductory news conference. "I went into last spring thinking: If things go right and these new guys do this or that. ... You start imagining scenarios where it's going to work.

" Add a fourth word to the description: dreamer.

Yet that's always the best part of a new start. There is hope and optimism and promise. Everybody focuses on the good instead of the bad. The sun is shining, it's warm outside and guys are playing catch.

"I like some of the things we saw about our pitching, although it may be hard for you to think I'm being serious with some of the numbers that were out there," Molitor said. "We did some good things with our pitching staff last year.

"We lost 92 games last year. I can tell you some things I really like about that team, from not quitting to being in 95 percent of the games we played in. Guys gained experience. Guys got tired of losing. Guys are learning how to win.

" He makes it sound good now, but I remember feeling queasy when I was watching it all.

"I'm not a guy who is going to sit up here and go, 'Hang in there, fans, we've got help on the way,' " Molitor said. "We've been hearing that. We all hope it's true.

"When they're ready, we'll see some of these guys down the road. But we've got to worry about what's going on up here. It's nice to know there will be some guys who will make a difference down the road. We all hear about that. But I really will be more concerned about what is going on up here, not the fact that I have hope that some help is coming along the way. Because now is important."

Now is important. That is a deep thought to which Twins fans can relate. Instead of waiting for the magic prospect bus to arrive, Molitor is talking about the present. You have to respect him for that. Instead of begging for time, he's talking about trying to deliver the goods with what he has on hand. It's a refreshing attitude among all coaches and managers, really.

"We've had four years of struggle," Molitor said. "We've had fans that have tried to find ways to stay optimistic, not to become apathetic or angry. And we need to reach out to them."

Yes, he was calm and, when it came to specifics, he was guarded. He played it very close to the vest in terms of his potential staff. And he has ideas about tweaking "the Twins' way" that he's not ready to share. As for complex, well, it could be argued that anyone in baseball who speaks in complete sentences is complex. But he's also got a lot going on inside.

For example, he let it be known that he would never manage any other team but the . His mind was made up on that. If that opportunity never presented itself, then so be it. At the same time, he was pulling for Ron Gardenhire to return as skipper in 2015. Molitor also noted that, like the rest of us, he sort of wondered what Twins management was thinking during its long search for Gardenhire's replacement.

"There was a time where I was wondering about where their debate was internally," Molitor said. "Was it more about lack of experience? Was it more about someone younger? Was it more about we need someone from outside to get a totally clean slate?

"I didn't know where their balance of criteria was going to take them. But I was calm."

And guarded and complex. 14

Twinsights: Max Kepler hopes to impress Paul Molitor next spring

Mike Berardino / Pioneer Press – 11/4/14

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Max Kepler was 16 years old and newly signed from Berlin, when he first met Paul Molitor.

That was at fall instructional league in September 2009, and Molitor was among the first Twins coaches he met.

Over the next four seasons, Kepler came to value the time Molitor would spend with him in his former role as Twins minor-league baserunning and infield instructor.

“It was always awesome,” Kepler said before Tuesday’s Arizona Fall League game with the . “Hopefully I get to work a lot more with him and have a chance to show what I got.”

That chance will come in another three months when Molitor opens his first spring training as Twins manager. Kepler, who turns 22 on Feb. 10, will be attending his second big-league camp after putting up another solid season this year at Fort Myers (.264/.333/.393).

What stood out to Kepler, an /, about those Molitor sessions?

“He was very subtle with everything he said but it all translated over,” Kepler said. “He spoke with a lot of confidence, so I usually just stood there and listened. I didn’t have much to say because he had everything that needed to be said.”

Molitor’s patience is noteworthy for a hall of fame player with more than 3,300 career hits. Kepler says he would see that patience on display each time he went to instructs.

“You know there’s going to be a lot of mistakes made, but he’s always been very patient with all the younger guys,” Kepler said. “I think he won’t have a problem with the older guys either. He’s going to be very old-school, which I heard, but I think he’s going to do just fine.”

Kepler recalls seeing Molitor pass through low-A Cedar Rapids a few times in 2013. Those visits were brief, but when Molitor spoke all the Twins minor leaguers definitely listened.

“He wouldn’t be in town very long — two games or so,” Kepler said. “He wouldn’t really speak to everybody, but if he had stuff to say to you, it was important stuff. I just remembered he touched on my baserunning. I was a little sloppy at the time. He was always a great baserunner, so what he said to me was important: ‘Always stay focused and always ready. Always be on your toes on the bases.’ “

Indeed, despite average speed, Kepler has been caught just four times in 26 career stolen-base attempts. He is 3 for 3 in stolen- base attempts for Salt River this fall.

–Twins left-hander won’t pitch again in the Arizona Fall League.

Rogers, who went 11-6 with a 3.29 average at -A New Britain, took a line drive off his pitching arm in his AFL debut on Oct. 9. The former 11th-round pick (2012) from the University of Kentucky was fortunate to sustain nothing more serious than a bone bruise in his left forearm.

Rogers, who turns 24 in December, is scheduled to throw live batting practice on Friday but will run out of time to return to the mound for the Salt River Rafters. The AFL regular season ends Nov. 13.

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Twinsights: What Paul Molitor hiring means for Twins’ use of infield shifts

Mike Berardino / Pioneer Press – 11/4/14

Now that Paul Molitor has ascended to the manager’s chair, will that mean another exponential increase in the Twins’ use of infield shifts?

“Shifts work,” Molitor said at his introductory news conference on Tuesday at Target Field. “The information is in. They’re taking away more hits than they’re giving up.”

After shifting just 87 times on balls in play all of 2013, the Twins shifted on 553 at-bats in 2014 after Molitor was added to the coaching staff. The latter figure was supplied by Inside Edge, which counts shifts whether the ball was put in play or not.

Those 553 shifts ranked 15th in the majors (see chart) and were roughly one third of the total reached by the majors-leading . In terms of net hits saved, which subtracts hits that were deemed to be caused by the shift, the Twins ranked 14th in the majors with 15 NHS.

That was still far better than a team like the , who made the postseason for a second straight year and shifted 856 times but managed to save just one lonely net hit.

In terms of success rate, the Twins saved a net hit on 2.7 percent of their shifts. That ranked them 12th in the majors, which suggests they have reason to rely even more on the tactic moving forward.

Of the 17 teams to shift at least 500 times, the Twins ranked seventh in success rate. The World Series-champion led that group by far at 5.1 percent, meaning they were twice as likely as the Twins to take away a hit when shifting their infield.

Is that what Twins expect to happen?

“I think so,” Twins Brian Dozier said. “Moli didn’t have complete control of that. He and (third-base coach) Joe Vavra worked hand in hand in doing that stuff. Obviously Vavra is very knowledgeable as well when it comes to that stuff. You’re not supposed to assume anything in this game, but I would assume we would shift more as we continue to get better at it.”

Dozier actually saw his personal defensive metrics drop in 2014, perhaps in part to how much he was moved around by the coaching staff. Trevor Plouffe, however, saw his defensive metrics jump across the board, even as he often found himself manning the entire left side of the infield.

“This year we would look at all the information, and there’s a lot of information out there,” Plouffe said. “We would look at spray charts and kind of go from there. If we didn’t have much info on a guy, if he didn’t have a lot of at-bats, that was the time we probably played it a little more safe. I would assume the Astros, for instance, would go off whatever they had.”

Plouffe also noted the Twins often would “leave it up to the pitcher” whether they would shift on certain batters and how often.

“If (the pitcher) feels comfortable or doesn’t feel comfortable, that would make a difference,” Plouffe said.

For his part, Dozier is open to more shifting. It also should help that Joe Mauer will be in his second year as a full-time first baseman and will be coming off his first full year as a regular .

“Those numbers (from 2014) show you what Moli is all about,” Dozier said. “His job was baserunning and defensive positioning, and he worked his tail off to have so much information to try to be the best team at defensive positioning. We tried to be the best team at baserunning too.

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“He tried so many different ways to try to gain the edge. That’s what made him such a great player, one of the best to play the game, and that’s what propelled him past other people. I’ve been asked the question, ‘Is this going to be a learning experience for Moli?’ Heck, no. Not with a guy that’s been around the game as long as he has and has done the things he has and has the IQ he has for the game of baseball, which is off the charts. I can’t wait.”

Twinsights: Brian Dozier on the demanding nature of Paul Molitor

Mike Berardino / Pioneer Press – 11/4/14

Brian Dozier has been in the Twins organization since 2009, so he’s had plenty of exposure to Paul Molitor.

That began during Molitor’s former role as a minor-league infield and baserunning instructor and expanded along with Molitor’s 2014 role as a big-league infield coach.

So when I asked the Twins second baseman Monday if his new manager ever gets animated, he didn’t hesitate.

“Oh, yeah,” Dozier said from Alabama, where he played in the Foundation Classic, a charity golf outing sponsored by the former Twins outfielder. “I’ve gotten to know him really well. I consider me and him to be really close. As quiet as he seems, the media stuff might be a little transition, but behind closed doors, he knows when to joke around. He’s a jokester as well. He’s got a lot of personality.”

The power of that personality — along with a hall of fame playing resume — will be among the tools Molitor brings to the task of helping the Twins snap out of this sustained downturn.

Dozier has no doubt Molitor will be up to the challenge despite not having managed before — at any level.

“Just like any other manager, he demands,” Dozier said. “He’s going to want us to go out and bust our tails to win a baseball game each and every night. But he also knows how to treat each individual differently like you have to up there (in the majors). He knows when to get fiery, knows when he needs to take a step back, knows when to joke around. He also knows when it’s time for business. I don’t think it will be a transition for him at all.”

Dozier, who has emerged as a team leader since making the move from shortstop for the 2013 season, was also quite fond of former Twins manager Ron Gardenhire. Dozier refused to compare the two, but he made no effort to hide his enthusiasm for the Twins’ choice as just their third manager in nearly three full decades.

“I feel like they are two different managers,” Dozier said. “I don’t want to compare anything that Gardy did (to Molitor). I respected the hell out of Gardy. I enjoyed having him as my manager. What happened, that’s the process, the business part of it.”

And now that Molitor has inherited the manager’s office?

“With Moli, I just feel like it’s a real good fit,” Dozier said. “He’s a hometown guy. What he’s done and the credentials he has speak for themselves. Even better, he’s already familiar with the club we have now. He knows the ins and outs of how the Minnesota Twins are run and what’s demanded.

“I watched him as a player. I know him better as a person. He demands. He demands that we play the game the way it’s supposed to be played. He demands that we play to win.”

Gardenhire demanded as well, but the results simply weren’t there over the past four seasons (92-plus losses each year).

Now Molitor gets a fresh slate.

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“He was a winner when he played. I think the way he played the game showed that,” Dozier said. “That’s what he brings to the table for us. Especially in a young clubhouse and having the hall of fame attached to his name. I don’t want to keep harping on that. I just think we’ve got a dadgum good manager.”

While some Twins fans might express frustration that the front office stayed in-house with this managerial selection rather than opting for jarring change by bringing in somebody from the outside — bench coach Torey Lovullo was the apparent runner-up — Dozier suggests everyone take a deep breath and consider the benefits of Molitor.

“I think the Twins organization and all the fans should be super-excited about what just happened,” Dozier said. “We had one of the best (candidates) in-house already. His being a hometown guy is a (bonus). He fits the mold of everything we’re trying to do here.”

Dozier sounded ready to report to spring training in another day or two.

“I’ve wanted Moli from Day 1,” he said. “I’m very excited. I couldn’t be happier. We’re very close. We’ve gotten to know each other over the years very well. He brings so much. I can’t even begin to describe what he can do with his program to turn this organization around and getting us back to winning.”

Dozier caught himself before continuing.

“We’re not talking anymore about turning things around,” he said. “We’re talking about playoffs and World Series, things that need to be brought back to Minnesota. Moli is the guy to lead us in that direction.”

Twinsights: Trevor Plouffe progressing well following forearm surgery

Mike Berardino / Pioneer Press – 11/3/14

Twins third baseman Trevor Plouffe continues to progress following Sept. 29 surgery to repair a fractured left forearm suffered during the season’s final homestand.

“I wouldn’t say I’m full-go on everything in the gym,” Plouffe said Monday. “I’m letting it continue to heal, but I’m doing a lot of stuff. I’m not babying it or anything. This is my second week in. I’m basically using pain as a guide. If it hurts, I stop. That hasn’t happened too often.”

Plouffe, arbitration-eligible for the second time this offseason and projected to make north of $4 million in 2015, doesn’t plan to resume swinging a bat until January, which is when he typically starts hitting anyway. The Twins must decide whether to tender him a contract by early December.

“Maybe I’ll test it out here and there, depending on what the rehab facility wants me to do,” he said.

Despite the severity of the injury, which he suffered while making a tag on a stolen-base attempt by A.J. Pollock of the Diamondbacks, Plouffe said he wouldn’t have to push back any baseball activities he would undertake in a normal offseason.

“Baseball-wise, not really,” he said. “I really just focus on training until January. I’m usually playing catch a little earlier, just to get my arm going, but it’s not going to affect my baseball stuff at all.”

Plouffe flew back to the Twin Cities to have his cast removed a couple weeks ago at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester and only wears something to protect his forearm when he knows he’ll be in a crowd.

“I have a little removable splint they told me to wear when I’m going to be around a lot of people,” he said. “I remind myself not to bump it or anything. I really don’t even need it. I don’t wear it around the house. It’s pretty much healed. It is healed.”

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Twinsights: Twins players weigh in on Paul Molitor’s hiring

Mike Berardino / Pioneer Press – 11/3/14

Trevor Plouffe frequently credits Paul Molitor with helping him make huge defensive strides last season.

Now that Molitor has been named the Twins’ new manager, replacing Ron Gardenhire after 13 seasons, Plouffe is as eager as anyone to see how the first-ballot hall of famer will be able to impact the Twins’ overall play.

“He’s the guy that everyone really wanted to replace a guy like Gardy,” Plouffe, the Twins’ third baseman, said Monday in a phone interview. “I knew the Twins had to do their due diligence and look at other options. That’s a good thing. But in my opinion … I thought Molly was the guy all the way. I’m happy it worked out for him.”

Twins reliever , who has been with the big-league club since 2009 and in the organization since 2005, also was pleased to see Molitor hired to his first managerial post at any level.

“I am excited for him for the opportunity he is getting,” Duensing said in an email. “I’m also excited for the guys on the team. Paul has a great mind for baseball and will have some interesting ways (of) looking at things. I think we all will learn a lot from him.”

Added Twins right-hander : “I am pretty excited about Moli getting hired. Ever since I met him while I was playing in the minors, he was someone that I tried to soak up as much info from as possible. His baseball IQ is second to none, and he knows how to relate to players.

“He is also just a great person, and he is a leader. I am excited to get to spring training and get the ball rolling on this turnaround. I am sure Twins fans are just as excited as the players!”

Plouffe spoke Sunday night with Molitor after texting back and forth with him during the Twins’ five-week manager search. The Twins’ regular third baseman the past three seasons, Plouffe said he followed the process fairly closely from his offseason home in Southern California.

“I was definitely into it,” Plouffe said. “That’s a huge part of our team.”

Boston Red Sox bench coach Torey Lovullo and Class A Fort Myers manager Doug Mientkiewicz were the apparent runners-up.

“I know Lovullo,” Plouffe said of the former UCLA standout. “Great guy. I think he’s a great coach. I know Mientkiewicz. Great guy, great coach. I knew we were getting quality options. It was something where you let Terry (Ryan) decide that. You know he knows what he’s doing. I was never worried about the decision. I knew he’d get the right one.”

Like so many others to share a dugout with Molitor, Plouffe noted the former playing great’s attention to detail. He said that was apparent even during Molitor’s days as a minor league baserunning and infield coordinator.

“I knew this before he was on our coaching staff because he would be in our dugout when he was roving,” Plouffe said. “He’s such a student of the game, he can pick up little things on pitchers like I’ve never seen before. He’d notice the subtle differences in the way a guy would go to the plate when he was throwing a certain pitch or pick up movements to help with baserunning and getting good jumps.”

Molitor has spent just four total seasons in a big-league coaching capacity, serving as bench coach under Tom Kelly (2000-01), hitting coach for the (2004) and infield coach for the Twins this past season.

“He really made everyone more in tune with the game,” Plouffe said. “That’s a big thing. It’s the small things that really put you at a competitive advantage. That’s going to be a big step with us going forward, especially with all the young guys.”

Considering Molitor’s legendary focus, it’s interesting to note he typically keeps his cool. Asked if he’d ever seen Molitor angry, perhaps with a younger player making the same mistake once too often, Plouffe laughed.

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“That’s a good question,” he said. “I know he is very passionate. He is laid back but very passionate. I try to stay on his good side. I respect him so much that I would do anything he’d say.”

With Molitor in charge, it would behoove younger Twins players to clean up the mistakes that led to a fourth straight season of 92 or more losses in 2014.

“You know he means business,” Plouffe said. “As laid back as he is, when he says something you’d better listen and you’d better do it. He’s a guy that wants you to do the little things right.”

Running into needless outs on the bases has been a weakness for some Twins in recent years.

“A lot of times base-running mistakes are mental errors, and he doesn’t like mental errors,” Plouffe said of Molitor. “He likes you to be mentally sharp and understand what you need to do when you’re on the bases. If you go through all the different scenarios in your head, it’s easy to react. He’s really in tune with that. He doesn’t want mental mistakes. He wants you to think about the game, not just go out there and play. Anyone can do that. He wants you to go out and play with a plan.”

Tom Powers: Molitor makes sense, but will he make Twins win?

Tom Powers / Pioneer Press – 11/3/14

The challenge has been accepted. The possible outcomes are limited.

Years from now, Paul Molitor will be a member of one of two very select groups. The first includes the likes of , Mike Ditka and Billy Cunningham -- great players who became great managers/coaches. The second includes Wayne Gretzky, and Magic Johnson -- great players who tarnished their legacies by moving behind the bench or into the dugout.

Top-tier players put their reputations on the line when they assume the 's chair. It may not be fair, but that's how it is. More is expected of them because of their prior successes in the arena, and it doesn't matter that everyone is comparing apples to oranges.

Terry Ryan made a safe, popular choice by selecting Molitor to manage the Twins, who will introduce the new skipper at a news conference Tuesday morning. He gets a highly regarded baseball man as well as a proven teacher. That Molitor is a local boy and a Hall of Famer made Ryan's job that much easier. And there really wasn't any doubt about this hire. If Molitor wanted the job -- if he really wanted -- it was his. All the rest of it was just window dressing.

In hiring Molitor, Ryan tacitly chose intelligence over experience, levelheadedness over fire, logic over impetuousness. Just from casual conversation, we know that Molitor will embrace modern analytics, especially in terms of defensive positioning, an area in which the Twins have fallen behind.

He'll also begin with a head start in the respect department, a byproduct of his long and successful career as a player and a teaching coach.

Whether everybody lives happily ever after remains to be seen. The truth is that nobody comes to the ballpark to watch a manager. A popular figure might get a bit more leeway in terms of public sentiment. In the end, the clicking of the turnstiles is directly correlated to the proficiency of the team -- and maybe the weather.

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The Twins have ridden the popularity of outdoor baseball at Target Field about as far as they can. Season ticket sales are down. People now are demanding a decent product, otherwise they will sit on their patios and enjoy a summer evening for a fraction of the cost.

Molitor is known for his baseball savvy, and he will need it with the sputtering Twins. I don't know if group inspiration is his thing, but chances are he will find the right touch, the right approach in dealing with this primarily young ball club. He moves easily among the players, offering advice and instruction. They appear to listen. That's half the battle.

He's also smart enough to know that "the Twins Way" is broken. It's obsolete. Baseball has advanced by leaps and bounds with the new emphasis on statistical and technical analysis, even as the Twins have clung to the past.

What's needed, somewhere in the organization, is a set of eyes that sees things differently. The Twins need someone who doesn't filter all information through the prism of "the Twins Way." Molitor knows capable baseball men from time spent in other organizations, and it would be a good idea to bring a few on board his staff. A different perspective would be valuable.

Now, there is the old saying about great players making lousy managers. The theory is that the game came easily for the superstars, and they might not have the patience for the .230 hitter struggling to make adjustments. Utility infielders, backup and marginal relievers, on the other hand, supposedly spend more time studying the game in an effort to survive. World Series managers and are a prime example of the latter.

Looking back through Twins history, you'd have to go all the way back to in 1961 to find a manager with any star power as a player. had a few famous moments, and had a long career. But that's about it.

Yet it's not as if Molitor has been sitting in a rocking chair signing Hall of Fame memorabilia. He's been active, in touch with what's happening. He took a cerebral approach as a player, always adjusting to various situations as they presented themselves. As a coach, he's been able to observe the big picture and file away information.

Molitor has had chances to manage before but turned them down. Now, apparently, he believes the time is right. He's confident enough to put his reputation on the line. You have to give him high marks for that. And then you have to hope that his confidence is contagious.

Twins: Molitor’s attention to detail impressed players

Mike Berardino / Pioneer Press – 11/4/14

Trevor Plouffe frequently credits Paul Molitor with helping him make huge defensive strides last season.

Now that Molitor has been named the Twins' new manager, replacing Ron Gardenhire after 13 seasons, Plouffe is as eager as anyone to see how the first-ballot hall of famer will be able to impact the Twins' overall play.

"He's the guy that everyone really wanted to replace a guy like Gardy," the Twins' third baseman said Monday in a phone interview. "I knew the Twins had to do their due diligence and look at other options. That's a good thing. But in my opinion ... I thought Moli was the guy all the way. I'm happy it worked out for him."

Twins reliever Brian Duensing, who has been with the big-league club since 2009 and in the organization since 2005, also was pleased to see Molitor hired to his first managerial post at any level. 21

"I am excited for him for the opportunity he is getting," Duensing said in an email. "I'm also excited for the guys on the team. Paul has a great mind for baseball and will have some interesting ways (of) looking at things. I think we all will learn a lot from him."

Twins right-hander Kyle Gibson said he was "pretty excited" by the news.

"Ever since I met (Molitor) while I was playing in the minors, he was someone that I tried to soak up as much info from as possible," said Gibson, a first-round draft pick in 2009.

"His baseball IQ is second to none, and he knows how to relate to players. He is also just a great person and he is a leader."

Twins second baseman Brian Dozier was careful not to compare his former manager (Gardenhire) with his new one, but he enthusiastically endorsed the move as well.

"I think the Twins organization and all the fans should be super-excited about what just happened," Dozier said. "Moli is a hometown guy, and he fits the mold of everything we're trying to do here. He brings so much to the table. He's the guy to lead us in the right direction."

Plouffe spoke Sunday night with Molitor after texting back and forth with him during the Twins' five-week manager search. The Twins' regular third baseman the past three seasons, Plouffe said he followed the process fairly closely from his offseason home in Southern California.

"I was definitely into it," Plouffe said. "That's a huge part of our team."

Boston Red Sox bench coach Torey Lovullo and Class A Fort Myers manager Doug Mientkiewicz were the apparent runners-up.

"I know Lovullo," Plouffe said of the former UCLA standout. "Great guy. I think he's a great coach. I know Mientkiewicz. Great guy, great coach. I knew we were getting quality options. It was something where you let Terry (Ryan) decide that. You know he knows what he's doing. I was never worried about the decision. I knew he'd get the right one."

Molitor has spent just four total seasons in a big-league coaching capacity, serving as bench coach under Tom Kelly (2000-01), hitting coach for the Seattle Mariners (2004) and infield coach for the Twins this past season.

"He really made everyone more in tune with the game," Plouffe said. "That's a big thing. It's the small things that really put you at a competitive advantage. That's going to be a big step with us going forward, especially with all the young guys."

Considering Molitor's legendary focus, it's interesting to note he typically keeps his cool. Asked if he'd ever seen Molitor angry, Plouffe laughed.

"That's a good question," he said. "I know he is very passionate. He is laid back but very passionate. I try to stay on his good side. I respect him so much that I would do anything he'd say."

With Molitor in charge, it would behoove younger Twins players to clean up the mistakes that led to a fourth straight season of 92 or more losses in 2014.

"You know he means business," Plouffe said. "As laid back as he is, when he says something, you'd better listen and you'd better do it. He's a guy that wants you to do the little things right. He doesn't want mental mistakes.

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"He wants you to think about the game, not just go out there and play. Anyone can do that. He wants you to go out and play with a plan."

Briefly

Plouffe continues to progress following Sept. 29 surgery to repair a fractured left forearm suffered during the season's final homestand. "I wouldn't say I'm full-go on everything in the gym," he said Monday. "I'm letting it continue to heal, but I'm doing a lot of stuff. I'm not babying it or anything. This is my second week in. I'm basically using pain as a guide. If it hurts, I stop. That hasn't happened too often." Plouffe, arbitration-eligible for the second time this offseason and projected to make north of $4 million in 2015, doesn't plan to resume swinging a bat until January, which is when he typically starts hitting anyway. The Twins must decide whether to tender him a contract by early December.

Twins hope new manager Paul ‘The Igniter’ Molitor lives up to his nickname

Mike Berardino / Pioneer Press – 11/3/14

For the first 15 seasons of Paul Molitor's hall of fame playing career, signed his paychecks with the Milwaukee Brewers.

Even after Selig became acting commissioner of Major League Baseball in September 1992 and Molitor jumped as a free agent to the that winter, the former Brewers owner always hoped Molitor would get a chance to manage in the major leagues.

Monday, on the day the Twins announced Molitor as the 13th manager in club history and just their third in nearly three decades, Selig finally saw that hope reach fruition for the St. Paul native and former University of Minnesota star.

"I always thought Pauly would be a terrific major league manager," Selig told the Pioneer Press in a phone interview. "He's very smart, understands the game. I think his skills with the other players will be terrific."

Molitor received a three-year contract, the Twins announced. Former manager Ron Gardenhire, fired Sept. 29 after 13 seasons, never was granted more than two guaranteed years at a time.

The Twins will hold a news conference Tuesday morning at Target Field to formally introduce Molitor, who has never managed before at any level.

Selig, who will retire in January, praised the Twins for going with Molitor, 58. The other finalists were Torey Lovullo and Doug Mientkiewicz.

"This is a great hire for the Twins and for Terry (Ryan) and Jim Pohlad," Selig said, referring to the team's general manager and owner, respectively.

"I'm grateful that Pauly is going to have that opportunity. He made the (Brewers) in 1978, and (manager) called him 'The Igniter.' And that's what he was: 'The Igniter.' "

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Lovullo, the Boston Red Sox bench coach, is now 0 for 7 in managerial interviews dating to 2005. Mientkiewicz, who managed at Class A Fort Myers last year, is expected to remain in the Twins organization, possibly moving up to the new affiliate at Double-A Chattanooga.

"The Twins are a class organization, led by their owner Jim Pohlad and GM Terry Ryan," Lovullo, 49, said in a statement to the Pioneer Press. "They did a thorough job in choosing their new manager, and I wish them all the best moving forward. I'm certain they will have success in the very near future."

Molitor becomes just the third player to begin his big-league managing career after being inducted at Co-operstown, N.Y. The others are Ted Williams and current manager .

The Twins hadn't fired a manager since Ray Miller was replaced by Tom Kelly in September 1986, but four straight seasons of 92 or more losses prompted the change of course.

A first-ballot hall of famer who ranks 10th all-time with 3,319 hits, Molitor has spent 16 of the past 19 seasons in the Twins organization in a variety of capacities. He served as the infield coach on Gardenhire's final big-league staff in 2014, spurring the Twins to drastically increase their use of defensive infield shifts.

Molitor finished his 21-year playing career with three seasons in a Twins uniform (1996-98). He spent two seasons as bench coach under Kelly (2000-01) and was interviewed after Kelly retired following the 2001 season, but the job went to Gardenhire instead.

There also were opportunities for Molitor to manage in Milwaukee and Toronto over the years, but he opted to remain out of the spotlight for family reasons. With his two youngest children, Julia and Benjamin, now 11 and 8, respectively, Molitor and wife Destini were ready to embrace the challenge.

"Paul will be able to build a strong clubhouse," said Gophers baseball coach John Anderson, a college teammate and close friend of Molitor's. "He'll build relationships with the players -- and trust -- and he's got instant credibility. He's seen it all in his career."

Despite Molitor's lack of managerial experience, Anderson said he has no doubt the transition will be smooth.

"He's spent his whole baseball career, since he started playing, preparing for this moment and opportunity," Anderson said. "He'll be a strong and authentic leader and he'll do a fabulous job."

Anderson, who has become the Big Ten's all-time winningest baseball coach over his 33 seasons with the Gophers, believes Molitor will bring many of the same qualities to his newest task as he did during his legendary playing career.

"Paul was interested in one thing only, and that was to win baseball games and championships," Anderson said. "He was also interested in being a great teammate and he made the players around him better by his commitment to winning and how he went about his business."

Molitor ready to start new chapter as Twins’ manager

Rhett Bollinger / MLB.com – 11/4/14

MINNEAPOLIS -- Paul Molitor's message was clear in his introductory news conference at Target Field.

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The Hall of Famer, who was officially named as the 13th manager in Minnesota Twins history on Tuesday, took the position believing the club can turn it around in a hurry after four straight seasons with at least 92 losses.

"I'm coming here to win," said Molitor, who signed a three-year deal to replace Ron Gardenhire, who was dismissed on Sept. 29. "I think it's very important to lay that out there right from the start. Things can change in this game very dramatically at this level very quickly."

It's a homecoming of sorts for Molitor, as the St. Paul native has spent 18 years with the organization in various roles, including as a Major League coach last season under Gardenhire. He's now set to begin the next significant chapter of his baseball career in the same city where he capped his Hall of Fame playing career with three seasons that featured his 3,000th hit, among other accomplishments.

Molitor said he came to the conclusion several years ago that the only club he'd ever manage was the Twins, and he'll finally get the chance in an organization known for its stability, as he's just the franchise's third manager dating back to 1986, when Tom Kelly took over for Ray Miller.

"It's been a long journey for me," Molitor said. "I've had opportunities to think about this for many years. I've spun it through and spun it out, and finally everything kind of seemed to come together right. ... I have no doubt this is where I'm supposed to be."

Molitor becomes the eighth Hall of Fame player (since the first class in 1936) -- and second active one, joining the Phillies' Ryne Sandberg -- to foray into managing.

Only three (Ted Williams, Molitor and Sandberg) have begun their big league managerial careers following their Hall of Fame inductions. Molitor was inducted into Cooperstown in 2004. He said he knows other former star players have had trouble relating to players, but he doesn't believe it'll be an issue.

"We've seen successful athletes have trouble in managing or general management positions," Molitor said. "But this is a different challenge than playing. My playing obviously influenced this, but this is totally different. But I got a text from Jeff Idelson, the president of the Hall of Fame, and he told me to relax and that my plaque isn't going anywhere."

Molitor was considered the front-runner for the position after serving as a coach for the Twins under Gardenhire this past season, and he was the first candidate interviewed. He was the organization's Minor League baserunning and infield coordinator from 2005- 13, and he also served in that role in '03. He was also Minnesota's bench coach from 2000-01.

"We're a young club here," said Twins general manager Terry Ryan, who ran the search process. "We were probably the youngest club as we approached September. We need somebody that can teach. Paul can do that, has done that, with us. He's very familiar with the players not only on the Major League team, but also certainly in the Minor League system. He's worked with them and watched them grow and mature, not only as players, but as human beings."

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Gardenhire was let go after leading the Twins to a 1,068-1,039 record over 13 seasons. He won the American League Manager of the Year Award in 2010, finished second five times and led the team to six AL Central titles. Molitor said he made sure to call Gardenhire once he found out he'd be his replacement.

"I had the privilege of being on [Gardenhire's] staff last year and learning a great deal from him watching him work day to day," Molitor said. "The commitment that he had, the passion, the integrity, the preparation. He gave me a great opportunity to be a part of that, and I'm indebted to him for that opportunity. But I get to follow that pattern, and hopefully I'll be able to leave my own mark as we go forward."

Molitor's playing career included 21 seasons in the Majors, and the final three -- from 1996-98 -- in the Twin Cities. He finished his career with a .306/.369/.448 slash line, with 3,319 hits in 2,683 games.

Molitor had several formal interviews with Twins executives, who also met extensively with Red Sox bench coach Torey Lovullo, Class A Advanced Fort Myers manager Doug Mientkiewicz and Indians bench coach Sandy Alomar Jr. before coming to their decision.

"I think it was more thorough than maybe even I was anticipating," Ryan said. "I doubled back a few times; we interviewed a number of people. I think we have the right fit sitting next to me here, in many ways."

Molitor, Ryan working together to fill coaching roles

Rhett Bollinger / MLB.com – 11/4/14

MINNEAPOLIS -- While the Twins officially named Paul Molitor as their new manager in a news conference at Target Field on Tuesday, the club is still working on hiring a coaching staff to join him.

Twins general manager Terry Ryan is set to work with Molitor on finding that mix of seven coaches. Given that Molitor was a part of former manager Ron Gardenhire's staff last year, a few coaches could be back next season, such as hitting coach Tom Brunansky, bench coach Terry Steinbach and bullpen coach Bobby Cuellar. But pitching coach Rick Anderson will not return. -A Rochester manager Gene Glynn, who was interviewed for the managerial position, appears to be a strong candidate to be promoted to the Major League staff.

Ryan and Molitor both declined to mention any names they're considering, but Ryan said he has an extensive list of candidates for pitching coach and bench coach. Ryan and Molitor both indicated that a Spanish-speaking Latino coach will be a part of the staff, because the club has several young Hispanic players such as , and Eduardo Escobar, as well as top prospect Miguel Sano on the way.

Finding a pitching coach remains a top priority, as Molitor has never managed at any level and most of his previous work was in the form of helping position players, especially in his role as a Minor League instructor.

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"We all know Paul hasn't managed, and managing the pitching staff is going to be a big piece, so we have to surround him with quality coaches," Ryan said. "We'll both have input. … I have a lengthy list of names, and now we'll move forward and see if we can find the right fit."

Ryan also indicated that the Twins could look to hire a bench coach with previous Major League managing experience, but he said that it's not a requirement. Molitor was the Twins' bench coach from 2000-01 and the Mariners' hitting coach in 2004.

"It's something we'll look at," Ryan said. "But [Molitor has] been a bench coach. So it's not like he hasn't been down there and hasn't helped make decisions."

Molitor said he brought a list of roughly 10 to 11 candidates he'd like on his staff when he went in for his second interview. The Twins have yet to contact any potential coaches, but the process will start in earnest this week.

"I certainly understand it's going to be a collaborative effort with Terry," Molitor said. "Terry will have his input, but he won't force anybody on me. I think he's interested in what I have to say."

Molitor also reiterated that just because the club has struggled through four straight seasons of at least 92 losses doesn't mean it needs to clean house and bring in an entirely new coaching staff.

"I think there are people who want us to get rid of everybody and to go out and get new voices and ideas," Molitor said. "We're considering people outside, but it would be foolish not to consider people from inside. There are some really good people here. But I can't tell you how much overlap there's going to be and where exactly it's going to land. My biggest concern is I want to make sure I have all the things covered I need to have."

Symbolism aside, Molitor right man for Twins’ job

Richard Justice / MLB.com – 11/4/14

The Minnesota Twins did this for the right reason. Not because Paul Molitor is the hometown kid. Not because he was once a great baseball player. Those things matter. Symbols are important.

In this case, they should not distract from the larger story. Molitor is the new manager of the Twins for the best reason of all. Twins general manager Terry Ryan believes Molitor is the best man for the job, and it's not a bit more complicated than that.

Some will point out that Hall of Fame players have a history of not being great managers. That's true. It's also true that no Hall of Famer has taken Molitor's path to the manager's office.

He's 58 years old. He played his last game 16 years ago and was inducted into the Hall of Fame 10 years ago. For most of the time since that last game, he seemed to have little interest in managing.

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Rather, he appeared content to have taken Ryan up on his invitation to remain with the Twins as an instructor, evaluator and ambassador. In that role, he saw the game from every angle.

He was a coach for Twins manager Tom Kelly, a legendary baseball man, one of the great teachers and sticklers for details ever. Molitor's time with Kelly represents graduate school for a baseball man.

And things evolved from there.

You'll probably read that Molitor will have credibility with his players because of those 21 seasons in the big leagues and 3,319 hits and that plaque in Cooperstown. None of that hurts. Again, symbols are important.

But Molitor has earned his credibility apart from his playing career, all of them every bit as important. His 2002 scouting reports on the A's were so good the Twins credited them with helping pull off a huge postseason upset.

He worked with players up and down the organization. Plenty of players, from No. 1 prospect Byron Buxton to All-Star second baseman Brian Dozier, say Molitor helped them get better.

As a player, Molitor's reputation was that he prepared meticulously and paid attention to everything. Those habits will serve him well as a rookie manager. In the dugout, players marveled at the way Molitor would call out the pitch the opposing pitcher was about to throw.

There are things we can't know. How will he deal with players who don't care as much or work as hard as he did? How will he deal with the tough times? Will he let the media get under his skin?

Perhaps most of all, how will he like a job in which -- unlike playing -- he can control only so much. The roadside is littered with smart, competent baseball men who let the game drive them nuts.

Again, though, judging Molitor by the things that can be measured, he's imminently qualified. Players want honesty and consistency. They want competence, too, but as teams shift inexorably to computer-generated scouting reports and tendencies, a manager's focus must be on dealing with people.

Molitor's challenge will be to get a consistent, cohesive effort from a diverse group of men, and there's no one way to do this. That challenge will grow even more as the next generation of Twins deals with the inevitable successes and failures that come with those first years in the big leagues.

To spend 19 years with an organization, to see the operation from every angle, to gradually fall in love with teaching and shaping and guiding, has been a long process. Molitor didn't skip any steps.

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Like most of us, Ryan once saw Molitor as a great player and a decent man and caring teammate. He was proud that Molitor spent the final three seasons of his amazing career playing for the Twins. He was happy Molitor agreed to stay with the organization.

However, none of those things put Molitor on the road to becoming the manager of the Twins. One has almost nothing to do with the other.

On a certain level, it feels Molitor was born to do this job, to be the manager of his hometown baseball team. In this most basic of ways, Tuesday was a very good day for the Minnesota Twins.

To see Molitor sitting there alongside Twins general manager Terry Ryan sends the right message to fans looking for a reason to believe in a better tomorrow.

The Twins aren't there yet. That's obvious. But there's franchise-changing young talent on the cusp of the big leagues and a general manager with a long track record of getting it right.

Molitor is a hometown kid, a St. Paul native who was a multi-sport star in high school and an All-American baseball player at the University of Minnesota. Fans know him and can relate to him.

If Molitor was going to manage a team, it was going to be the Twins. Cool stories like this one don't come along very often. Again, it feels right. So here's to a long, happy marriage.

Twins chose Molitor after three-phase search

Rhett Bollinger / MLB.com – 11/4/14

MINNEAPOLIS -- As Twins president Dave St. Peter described it, the team's five-week-long managerial search came in three phases once manager Ron Gardenhire was dismissed on Sept. 29.

Twins general manager Terry Ryan led the search, and he initially contacted the candidates before a first round of interviews largely featuring his baseball operations staff, including assistant general manager Rob Antony. Once the process went further along, Twins owner Jim Pohlad and St. Peter joined the interview process before Ryan ultimately recommended Paul Molitor for the position last week. Molitor was informed he was the choice on Friday, before the club made the decision official with an announcement on Monday leading to Tuesday's introductory news conference at Target Field.

"I got involved along with Jim on the second phase after we narrowed it down to a few finalists," St. Peter said. "We met with those candidates individually and got to know them a little bit and see what their philosophy was. And the third phase was a level of dialogue based on the input from a variety of people from the organization that led to a recommendation from Terry."

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The Twins interviewed several candidates throughout the process, including Red Sox bench coach Torey Lovullo, Class A Advanced Fort Myers manager Doug Mientkiewicz and Triple-A Rochester manager Gene Glynn.

All three of those candidates had at least two interviews and were considered finalists for the position along with Molitor. 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, while also contacting both (before he was hired by the D-backs) and Joe Maddon (before he was hired by the Cubs).

Molitor was the in-house choice, but both Glynn and Mientkiewicz appear likely to be promoted, as Glynn could join the Major League staff as a coach, while Mientkiewicz is expected to move up to manage at Double-A New Britain or Triple-A Rochester.

Ryan said all four top candidates were solid choices, but he ultimately was most impressed by Molitor and recommended him to Pohlad and St. Peter, who agreed with the decision.

"Ultimately, we wanted a consensus to present to Jim and Dave, and we did that," Ryan said. "I think the fit is ideal. I think with all the things surrounding us right now, it's the right time for [Molitor] to take over this club. I think we have a chance here to turn around things pretty quick."

Pohlad said Molitor's familiarity with the organization was a major plus, as he's spent 18 years with the Twins in various roles, such as a player, a bench coach and a Minor League instructor.

"When we made the change, Paul's name was certainly on the list and arguably at the forefront," Pohlad said. "Terry sought a lot of people's decisions, including mine. But in the end, it was Terry's decision, and we fully supported him. We're happy to have Paul here."

Mauer, Perkins excited for Molitor’s managerial rise

Rhett Bollinger / MLB.com – 11/4/14

MINNEAPOLIS -- As native Minnesotans, it was only fitting for Joe Mauer and Glen Perkins to attend Tuesday's news conference at Target Field to introduce fellow Minnesota native Paul Molitor as the 13th manager in Twins history.

Mauer, a six-time All-Star, and Perkins, a two-time All-Star, were both there to show their support for Molitor, as they're both very familiar with the Hall of Famer, who hails from nearby St. Paul. Molitor has spent 18 years in the organization in various roles, and joined the Major League coaching staff under former manager Ron Gardenhire last season.

Mauer, who attended Cretin-Durham High School in St. Paul like Molitor, said he was happy to hear it was Molitor who was named Gardenhire's replacement after Gardenhire was dismissed on Sept. 29.

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"I've always tried to pick his brain," Mauer said. "It's all about doing the little things to win ballgames. I know his philosophy and what he's all about, and just [to] hear him say at this press conference [that] he wants to win right away, it's the same mentality I have and one shared by a lot of guys in that locker room."

Perkins, who is from Stillwater, Minn., and attended the University of Minnesota like Molitor, was also pleased when he found out Molitor would be his new manager.

"I was excited," Perkins said. "He was one my short list. It was him and [Red Sox bench coach] Torey Lovullo. I don't think we could've gone wrong with either one. But what I like about Paul is that he's a guy when he walks into a room, you want to go shake his hand because he commands respect. And [Twins general manager] Terry Ryan is the same way. Paul can't help but command respect."

For Molitor, hiring by Twins comes at right time

Terence Moore / MLB.com – 11/4/14

The timing is better for Paul Molitor. Well, if you believe folks get spooked when their manager is fresh into immortality as either a Hall of Famer or something close to one.

That's why this whole thing is about right: Instead of Molitor taking over his hometown Twins in 2002, which was four years after he ended his sterling playing career in Minnesota and two years before his induction into the Hall of Fame, he became the Twins' manager this week. So there is considerable space between his new job and both his playing days and his official designation in Cooperstown as one of the game's all-time greats.

In fact, many of Molitor's new players were barely in kindergarten when his 21-year career was winding down.

Good.

Since I've seen these situations up close and personal for several decades, I'm among those who believe that players inside of a Major League clubhouse get "spooked" more often than not when their manager is among the all-time greats in some baseball capacity. The word "intimidated" also comes to mind. So does "nervous" and just plain "scared."

I've seen the opposite, too, where managers in Cooperstown or sprinting near its city limits are treated by players as just another person in the corner of the dugout calling the shots. Not only that, I've seen Hall of Fame-caliber managers respond in kind, with patience and compassion. But I've also seen parts of clubhouses view a few Hall of Fame-caliber managers as the worst persons on the face of the earth.

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The bottom line: It is wiser to have distance between a guy's managerial duties and whenever he gets that bronze plaque. If nothing else, it helps to eliminate the giddy factor from the clubhouse over having such an esteemed individual in the presence of just common folks.

Was Molitor the best choice for the Twins, and will he succeed during his maiden journey as a Major League manager? Yes and yes, especially for the long run. He showed leadership skills along the way to his 3,319 hits and seven All-Star Game trips with the Brewers, the Blue Jays and the Twins.

As for the short run, Molitor and the Twins only can hope that he fares better in 2015 than Ryne Sandberg did in 2014 with a Phillies team that reeked during his first season as a Major League manager.

The comparisons between Molitor and Sandberg are striking.

Sandberg retired the year before Molitor in 1997, and Sandberg entered Cooperstown the year after Molitor in 2005. While Molitor is 58, Sandberg is 55, and they both are starting their managerial careers about the same time. It's just that Molitor's Twins are considerably younger than the elderly bunch that Sandberg inherited in Philadelphia. It was a bunch whose core made the playoffs five straight years through 2011, while capturing two pennants and a World Series championship. In contrast, with a roster getting older by the moment, the Phillies spent this year moving toward the worst record in the NL East at 73-89, and Sandberg was forced to deal with a slew of off-the-field issues from Spring Training through the season.

Conflicts. They come for all managers, and there is no exception for Hall of Fame managers or those headed in that direction. I dealt with three such managers on a regular basis.

First, there was , leader of the Big Red Machine during the 1970s, when I worked for the Cincinnati Enquirer as a backup writer covering the Reds. He was charismatic. He was garrulous. He won all of those games while managing the Reds to two World Series championships in 1975 and '76, and he later took the Tigers to their last one in 1984. He clearly was marching toward Cooperstown long before he managed his last Major League game in 1995 with the Tigers, but he had his clubhouse detractors.

Let's just say many of the Reds players who were only good or less didn't care much for Anderson, because he treated those who were greater than great better than everybody else.

Pete Rose, , , Tony Perez.

Just like Anderson, they already had enough credentials during the 1970s for Cooperstown, and their manager had no problem flaunting it.

In contrast, there was , the manager of a Giants team that I covered for the San Francisco Examiner during the early . He didn't have a cast system. He did have players who were spooked whenever he was around, and for good reason. While 32

Anderson got his Hall of Fame credentials strictly as a manager, Robinson earned his Cooperstown berth as one of the elite of the game's all-time greats, and get this: He was inducted into the Hall of Fame during the middle of a season in which he was managing the Giants.

Robinson managed like he played, which meant he took no prisoners, but he was an equal opportunity tough guy.

Bobby Cox was an equal opportunity nice guy, and he only resembled Anderson by reaching the Hall of Fame through his dugout work and not his playing exploits (or lack thereof). As a columnist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, I dealt with Cox throughout his Braves run of a record 14 consecutive division titles, five NL pennants and a World Series championship.

I never heard a player say a negative word about Cox, and I'm talking about either on or off the record. He treated all of his players the same. That said, when one of them violated one of his few rules -- such as hustling at all times -- he went from pussy cat to roaring lion.

Molitor won't become another Anderson. Neither will he evolve into Robinson or Cox. The same goes for Ted Williams, , , Sandberg or any of those other managers who fit this category.

Expect Molitor to become Molitor, and that will be enough.

In the long run.

Molitor: ‘This is where I’m supposed to be’

Jon Krawczynski / Assciated Press – 11/4/14

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- For more than two decades, Paul Molitor scratched and clawed his way to the Hall of Fame by turning every at-bat into a battle of wills.

His competitiveness and instincts were rare traits that helped him speed through the minor leagues in just one year, pile up more than 3,300 hits and remain productive well after his 40th birthday.

Now that he has taken over as manager of his hometown Minnesota Twins, one of Molitor's big challenges will be finding a way to convey the characteristics that made him one of the game's greatest hitters on to a new generation of players, the majority of whom will never approach his accomplished career.

''That's something that we hear about, managers who were so-called successful players, that they don't have the patience to put up with players that can't seem to get it,'' Molitor said on Tuesday during his introductory press conference. ''They can't do what I did or they can't do it this way. After (16) years, I've got a much better perspective and feel for that. I know, still, that the game's hard.''

Molitor has been retired since 1998 and has spent the time since grinding away as a roving instructor in the Twins' minor league system, one year as a hitting coach with the Seattle Mariners and last year as an assistant on Ron Gardenhire's staff with the Twins.

He is the 63rd Hall of Fame player to become a manager, according to STATS. Thirty-four of those finished their managing careers with losing records, including and , who managed a combined eight games. 33

The decision to fill a managerial position with a Hall of Fame player is becoming increasingly rare. Molitor is just the fourth Hall of Famer in the last 25 years to get a managing job, joining Tony Perez (.468 career ), Frank Robinson (.475) and Ryne Sandberg (.456).

''I will never forget that the game is very, very difficult,'' Molitor said. ''And I don't expect players to do things exactly the way I did. Our coaches won't do the same. We're going to try to get these guys to improve. For me, frustration because guys don't get it? Tell them again. Help them again. Support them again. Encourage them again. Stay after it.''

He takes over for Gardenhire, a beloved figure in Twins lore who was fired after the fourth straight season of at least 92 losses.

''I watched him all year on the top step of the dugout,'' Twins owner Jim Pohlad said. ''I saw Paul the whole year and really just actively involved and just tense to the game, so that was really a positive to me. When we decided to make a change, Paul's name was definitely on the list and arguably at the forefront of the list.''

All-Star closer Glen Perkins has known Molitor for years and sees a difference in him compared to other Hall of Famers.

''He never was the biggest, the fastest, the strongest, any of those things,'' Perkins said. ''He got by and did a lot of little things. Those are things that make a good manager.

''That's what you hear: utility players, catchers, those are the guys that make good managers because they had to do a lot of the little things just to stay there. Well he did all those little things to be a Hall of Famer.''

Molitor was up for consideration for this job the last time the Twins were hiring, but he pulled his name from consideration in 2001 in part because Major League Baseball was contemplating contracting two franchises. Those efforts failed and Gardenhire led the team to six division titles in his first nine seasons of a 13-year career.

Now the Twins are looking for a similar , and Molitor made it clear that he doesn't plan on being a part of a long-term rebuilding project.

''I'm coming here to win,'' Molitor said. ''I think that it's very important to lay that out there right from the start. Things can change very dramatically at this level very quickly.''

Molitor has never been a manager at any level, and he goes into this job knowing that the instincts and knowledge that made him such a great player will only take him - and the Twins - so far.

''I know what I know, and I think a lot of it is really good things,'' Molitor said. ''But you have to know where you need help. I think assembling a staff is going to be important that's able to fill some of those gaps for me, at least in the interim as we go forward, will be very, very critical. It's something that we plan to get started on.''

Molitor not intimidated by lack of managing experience

Derek Wetmore / 1500ESPN.com – 11/4/14

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Twins on Tuesday introduced new manager Paul Molitor, just the team's third new manager since 1986.

And unlike the previous manager's - Ron Gardenhire and Tom Kelly - this one doesn't have any experience on the job.

"Playing, coaching, developing [players], it's not the same as being the leader at the top." Molitor said at his introductory press conference. "I don't think that I'm overly intimidated or nervous about any of those things that were mentioned.

"I certainly was transparent with Terry [Ryan] about, 'I know what I know.' I think a lot of it is really good things but you have to know where you need help. I think assembling a staff that is going to be supportive that is able to fill some of those gaps for me at least in the interim as we go forward will be very, very critical."

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Molitor said he believes he's watched 4,000 baseball games, which translates to roughly 12,000 hours, which would be 500 days of his life stacked consecutively watching baseball around the clock. In that time, he said, he's developed an ability to see things others don't always see. Ryan mentioned pitch prediction, or rather, seeing a pitcher tip his pitches, as one of the things that amazes him about Molitor.

As for a timeline for assembling the staff, Molitor said he's already had some preliminary conversations about who would be on the staff, and they plan to continue those Tuesday afternoon.

"Certainly I have some names during our interviews and things like that. That's a short term thing that will be very important going forward to get that assembled and be able to put that in motion," Molitor said.

Molitor has experience as something of a roving instructor for about a decade in the Twins' minor league system, bouncing from affiliate to affiliate focusing on infield instruction and baserunning, two areas he excelled as a player. He also was the Mariners hitting coach in 2004, but left after one season.

He spent the 2014 season on the Twins bench and part of his job description was to work with in-game strategy. That will certainly be a critical part of his role as manager, but he'll also rely on a staff to assist him.

Next up: filling out coaching staff and hiring a new pitching coach

Derek Wetmore / 1500ESPN.com – 11/4/14

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Twins will get started in earnest Tuesday afternoon to assemble Paul Molitor's coaching staff.

Among the top priorities: a new pitching coach.

Rick Anderson reportedly told Twins general manager Terry Ryan that he was done after Ryan fired Ron Gardenhire. The rest of the coaches' contracts expire at the end of the season.

"Having someone with experience with that is going to be very important to me. Because I couldn't sit here and tell you how to map out getting a twelve-man [pitching] staff ready for a season when you don't even know who those twelve men are going to be," Molitor said. "I'm going to need help with that."

Molitor said that he's had "preliminary discussions" about filling out the coaching staff. But he later added that it wouldn't be prudent to name any names for candidates because of the sensitive nature of the situation, which may mean he's considering people who still are under contract with another team.

"Certainly I have some names during our interviews and things like that," Molitor said. "That's a short-term thing that will be very important going forward to get that assembled and be able to put that in motion."

One point in Molitor's favor as he embarks on a mission he's never before undertaken, he sounds willing to listen to others and allow their strengths to fill his blind spots.

"I certainly was transparent with Terry [Ryan during the interview process] about, 'I know what I know.' I think a lot of it is really good things but you have to know where you need help," Molitor said. "I think assembling a staff that is going to be supportive that is able to fill some of those gaps for me at least in the interim as we go forward will be very, very critical."

Ryan, who said he'll lean heavily on Molitor to make coaching staff decisions, wouldn't speculate on any names who may be considered. He spoke very highly of Gene Glynn and Doug Mientkiewicz and how they interviewed. He also said Sandy Alomar Jr. and Torey Lovullo interviewed well for the vacant managerial job, but he indicated Lovullo is not a candidate to join Molitor's staff on the bench.

Besides Molitor, nobody from Gardenhire's coaching staff appeared at the introductory press conference.

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Ryan on talks with Joe Maddon: Cubs job offer escalated so quickly

Derek Wetmore / 1500ESPN.com – 11/4/14

MINNEAPOLIS -- Twins general manager Terry Ryan said he had multiple phone conversations with Cubs manager Joe Maddon after he opted out of his contract with the Rays.

But he never met in-person with Maddon for an interview, in part, Ryan said, because the Cubs opportunity escalated so quickly.

"I reached out to him when I read that he took his out, just to gauge his interest," Ryan said. "He was very sincere. I was impressed in the conversation. The next day we had talked, it's obvious it escalated so quickly with the Cubs that he couldn't take a chance of worrying about the Twins. He was going to probably grab on."

Ryan would not speculate on whether or not he would have sat down for an interview if the process with the Cubs hadn't moved as quickly as it did.

Ten days after he opted out from the Rays, Maddon was introduced Monday as the next manager of the Cubs. The team had fired Rick Renteria after only one season. Ryan said his conversation with Maddon was "ironic" because he didn't anticipate at the onset of the search that Maddon would become available.

"I even mentioned to Paul, 'did you see what Maddon did? He opted out,'" Ryan said. "I talked to Maddon. And I told Paul that this was going to be something I should explore, which I think any general manager would take that opportunity to talk to him because he's got a track record, he's out there. So I did. And of course escalated with the Cubs and he ended up agreeing [Monday]. There's no secret that I talked to Maddon and I enjoyed my give-and-take with him and he's an interesting guy, as we saw [Monday]. I'm sure he's going to do a good job in Chicago."

"But there are a lot of other people I talked to. Rick Renteria's name came in shortly after that. So you can keep this thing going forever, but ultimately we came back to Paul and I feel good about getting the right guy here."

After his first phone conversation with Maddon, the former Rays manager called Ryan back the following day to say he would take the Cubs job.

"That's another thing I appreciated. I didn't want to be strung along and he didn't do that," Ryan said. "He's fair and honest and the next day he was up front and said, 'Listen, I've got a chance here I'm probably going to pursue it.' And I said, 'Go ahead.'"

That same thing happened with new Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale, Ryan said.

The Twins had a scheduled interview with Hale but he called Ryan and said: "I've got a chance to go back and they're going to make a decision and they want me to go back."

Ryan told him: "You need to do that. If you've got a chance to get this today, then go."

"Whether we missed out or not," Ryan said Monday, "I couldn't take the chance that he was missing an opportunity to manage a team. He took that job and it was the right thing to do."

Twins have expressed interest in free agent Torii Hunter

Darren Wolfson / 1500ESPN.com – 11/3/14

Tuesday isn't just Election Day. It's also the first official day of free agency in Major League Baseball and one player the Twins have already expressed interest in is outfielder Torii Hunter, per a source.

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Teams were allowed to reach out to agents last week, but contractual terms can't be discussed until late Monday night/Tuesday.

The Twins have made a few calls, including to Hunter's representatives. Unlike NFL, NBA, and NHL free agency, don't expect a flurry of immediate action. Free agency in baseball typically doesn't pick up for a few weeks. Starting pitching is the Twins' top priority, but finding an outfielder is also on the to-do list.

Word has it that Hunter has thought previously about finishing his career where it began -- he was the Twins' first round pick in 1993. Hall of Famers and new manager Paul Molitor served as mentors to Hunter during spring training and in Molitor's case during the 1997 and 1998 seasons. And Hunter has considered returning the gesture. But he's still chasing a and ultimately winning may trump all.

Hunter earned $14 million this year, hitting .286/.319/.446 with 17 home runs and 83 RBIs while mostly occupying the No. 2 spot in the Tigers' lineup. His 2014 outfield defense is considered to have taken a signifcant step back from his days with the Twins. He's an 18-year veteran and a five-time All-Star.

He would also inject life into any clubhouse, and if he chooses to sign with the Twins, would be relied on heavily to provide leadership. Molitor almost certainly will be involved in the recruitment.

Hunter's overall market is expected to be plentiful with , Texas, Baltimore, Kansas City, and others potentially in the mix. The Tigers didn't extend him a a qualifying offer by Monday afternoon's deadline. So any suitor would not have to forfeit a draft pick for the right to sign him.

The Twins have previously shown interest in another free agent outfielder, Yasmany Tomas of Cuba.

Mackey: Twins’ hiring of Molitor brings potential, but also quesitons

Phil Mackey / 1500ESPN.com – 11/3/14

Five weeks after general manager Terry Ryan and company embarked on the Minnesota Twins' first manager search in 13 years, the organization made the news official on Monday afternoon; Paul Molitor, at age 58, will get his first crack at leading a major league 25-man roster.

In the end, the decision came down to Molitor vs. Torey Lovullo, the Red Sox bench coach with nine years of minor league managerial experience. Lovullo opened a lot of eyes in the Twins organization with his initial interview, including catching the attention of Ryan and other members of the Twins front office. And while Pohlad has always been extremely fond of Molitor, I've been assured by people with knowledge of the search process that this wasn't a Ryan vs. Jim Pohlad situation. Pohlad deferred to Ryan throughout, and Ryan made the final call on Molitor over Lovullo. In the end, Molitor's familiarity with the organization and talent pipeline - among other qualities - ultimately won out.

It's also possible the Twins knew this was their only chance to see what Molitor could do as manager, and they didn't want to wonder, "What if?"

(Of course, it's also possible they could wonder, "What if?" with Lovullo, who is one of the more progressive baseball minds in the league.)

When news broke of Molitor's hiring, my initial reactions were twofold:

1.) Molitor is one of the smartest baseball people I've ever personally been around, and just about everybody who encounters him will say the same thing. There are several question marks, but ultimately Molitor has a ton of potential to be a great tactical manager.

2.) Even though Molitor might wind up being a great manager, I can't help but compare the Twins' hiring process to "that one risk- averse friend" in all of our social circles who only eats plain cheeseburgers at restaurants. Take him to Bar La Grassa for some soft eggs and lobster bruschetta - and he orders a plain cheeseburger. Take him to that new sushi place in Northeast, Masu, for some bacon-wrapped quail eggs and he, predictably, asks if they have a cheeseburger. 37

This isn't a knock on Molitor, but rather a referendum on Ryan and Pohlad, who are largely risk-averse. The Twins franchise runs mostly on comfort, familiarity and a conservative nature, and the hiring of Molitor fits that description.

But even though Molitor was the popular choice and the familiar name for the Twins and the public to embrace -- the "safe" choice -- there actually is plenty of risk involved in hiring a 58-year-old with no managerial experience.

Below are some positive attributes as well as some question marks surrounding Molitor as a potential manager, based on various conversations with people who know him well.

Positive attributes

• Nearly everyone raves about Molitor's baseball acumen and tactical sense. He is a master of the small details that many other coaches and players don't notice, and players have openly complimented Molitor's ability to teach over the past few years.

• Players have an inherent respect for him. In fact, no fewer than four players have used the word "respect," unprompted, when talking to me about Molitor in recent weeks. This isn't to say Ron Gardenhire didn't have the respect of the clubhouse - he certainly did when the Twins were winning -- but it seems to be a classic example of a change of voice possibly making a difference.

• Despite being a Minnesota native and a long-time member of the Twins organization, Molitor is not a classic "organizational guy," nor is he a Gardenhire clone. Molitor is a free and independent thinker who brings his own set of ideas and values.

• Molitor has worked closely with nearly every key player in the Twins' system, both in the minors and in the big leagues - from Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano to Brian Dozier and . There will be no feeling-out process when it comes to personnel.

• Molitor is said to be more open to analytics and other newer forms of scouting and evaluation than Gardenhire was. People close to Molitor say he is inquisitive and always trying to learn and adapt.

Question marks

• Is Molitor up for the grind? Eight months, games every day, hundreds of media sessions and appearances... Managing requires a lot more than baseball acumen, and Molitor has never managed at any level. And since retiring he has never spent more than two consecutive years on the road, grinding. The burn-out factor can be high.

• Can Molitor be the rare Hall of Fame player who also becomes a great manager? For whatever reason, Hall of Fame players rarely become managers in the first place - only a handful over the past 60 years - and many of them don't pan out. Frank Robinson's many teams never made the playoffs. Ted Williams was a notoriously exasperated and un-empathetic manager. Ryne Sandberg didn't receive rave reviews in his first year with the Phillies.

George Brett was never a manager, but when he stepped down as Royals hitting coach 15 months ago he said, "I found out I was a better player, a better hitter, in my opinion, than a teacher. I was not a good mechanical hitting coach."

• Is Molitor a leader of men or simply a mad scientist who excels behind the scenes? There's a difference between being a great guitar player and a great front man, just like there's a difference between being a great coordinator and a great coach in the NFL. A certain level of charisma and energy is required to thrive as a manager.

Ultimately it will be talent, specifically pitching, that leads the Twins' turnaround. No manager can take a perennially bad pitching staff and win 90 games.

But it'll be on Molitor to help take a losing culture and a group of talented young players and get them to push the rock up the hill.

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Molitor on managing Twins: ‘I’m coming here to win’

Tyler Mason / FOXSportsNorth.com – 11/4/14

MINNEAPOLIS -- Paul Molitor hasn't spent a day in his 58 years on earth managing a baseball game. He and the Minnesota Twins are convinced that doesn't matter.

The Twins officially introduced Molitor at a press conference Tuesday as he became the 13th manager in Minnesota history. Despite a Hall of Fame career as a player, this will be Molitor's first foray into managing at any level. In doing so, he inherits a Twins team that has lost 92 or more games in each of the last four seasons.

As Minnesota searches for a new voice in charge, Molitor believes he can bring that change.

"I'm coming here to win," Molitor said Tuesday. "I think it's very important to lay that out there right from the start. Things can change in this game very dramatically."

Molitor was a first-ballot Hall of Famer after finishing with 3,319 hits in 21 seasons with the Brewers, Blue Jays and Twins. The St. Paul, Minn., native eventually returned to his hometown team to work as a roving minor-league instructor for the better part of a decade. This past season he was a coach on the staff of manager Ron Gardenhire, whom Molitor is replacing after Gardenhire managed Minnesota for 13 seasons.

The Twins and Molitor both believe the timing is right for Molitor to finally take a job as a major-league manager, even if his managerial credentials are lacking.

"If there's one thing that Paul wasn't experienced in, it's making out the lineup card," Twins general manager Terry Ryan said. "That certainly crosses any general manager's mind about the hiring process. And then you look at some of the recent history of major- league managers. There are many guys who have succeeded and hadn't made out a lineup in their life."

Molitor's coaching staff has not yet been set. He and Ryan have had preliminary discussions, but the talks will begin in earnest this week. By all accounts, selecting the staff will be a collaborative effort between Molitor and Ryan, and the Twins will consider both internal and external candidates to fill the staff.

One of the biggest questions will be who Molitor names as his pitching coach. Though Molitor has plenty of knowledge about hitting, defense and baserunning, he admits that pitching isn't his strong suit. On top of that, the Twins have struggled on the mound over the last few years. Minnesota won't improve if it doesn't first solidify the pitching.

"If you watched the postseason, pitching, pitching and pitching. It's incredible. You've got to do the right things surrounding that," Molitor said. "Having someone with experience is going to be really important. I couldn't sit here and tell you how to map out getting a 12-man staff ready for the season when you don't even know who those 12 men are going to be. . . . I'm going to need help with that."

Both Molitor and Ryan also talked about the importance of adding a Latin coach to the staff. Minnesota has many young Spanish- speaking players who have broken into the majors or on the verge of debuting, including Danny Santana, and Oswaldo Arcia. Bullpen coach Bobby Cuellar -- a Texas native -- served as the de facto interpreter last year for the Twins.

"Major League Baseball has always encouraged diversity, and to me it's not just about because that's the right thing to do but it's good for your team when you can find ways to do that and you have different backgrounds or whatever it is," Molitor said. "We're working on all those things."

Some fans were hoping the Twins would look outside the organization for the next manager, and Minnesota did talk to several external candidates. That included Boston Red Sox bench coach Torey Lovullo, who wound up as a finalist along with Molitor. Sandy Alomar Jr., was among the others from outside the Twins organization who interviewed. Internally, High-A Fort Myers manager Doug Mientkiewicz advanced in the interviewing process but was ultimately passed up. Triple-A Rochester skipper Gene Glynn also interviewed for the job.

In the end, though, Ryan and the front office chose to stay with a familiar face. Molitor was the first -- and later the last -- interview the Twins conducted. He was seemingly the frontrunner from the start, although Minnesota did its due diligence in the hiring process. 39

"The facility, the ownership, the business side, the affiliate, the minor-league system, all that stuff is in good shape. Unfortunately, our major-league record is not," Ryan said. "I think people outside this organization would tell you that, 'Geez, I'd like to have that job. It looks like things are on the mend here or on the rebound some.' . . . I had to talk to a lot of people to make sure. I'm not going to make a suggestion to (owner) Jim Pohlad after just maybe one or two interviews."

There have been times when Molitor's willingness to manage and his commitment to the job were questioned. He was approached about the manager's job in 2001 when Tom Kelly stepped down, but Gardenhire was eventually hired. Since then, the right opportunity never came around for Molitor.

With things finally settled in his personal life, the time was finally right for Molitor to step into the role of manager. And he does so with the team he's wanted to manage all along.

"For a long time I said, if the Twins job came up again somewhere along the way when I was still in the game, it would be something that I would have an interest in at least pursuing," Molitor said. "I don't know at what point or what year when I kind of became resolute in the fact that I was never going to manage anywhere else, if I managed at all. . . .

"Playing, coaching, developing, it's not the same as being a leader at the top. I don't think that I'm overly intimidated or nervous about any of those things."

Minnesota Columnnist: Paul Molitor will crack down on those wimpy players with piddly little concussions

Craig Calcaterra / NBCSports.com – 11/5/14

One guy who is really happy to see Paul Molitor take over as Twins manager is Star Tribune columnist Jim Souhan. Why? Because he’s gonna stop coddling those wimpy players who beg out of the lineup with piddling little ailments like hangnails. And brain injuries:

His first order of business should be introducing a new mentality to the clubhouse.

During their four consecutive losing seasons, the Twins tried to exercise caution with injured or bruised players. Anyone complaining of an ache was given an extra day or two off. There is logic in that approach. There is also danger. The Twins clubhouse became a place where you could collect a check without actually taking the field.

One of the early tests of Molitor’s tenure will be his handling of his best player, Joe Mauer.

Both grew up in St. Paul. Both played baseball at Cretin High. Both had the early years of their careers defined by constant injuries. The difference between them is important. Molitor’s desire to play was obvious. Mauer’s is not.

When the guy making $23 million a year begs out of the lineup because of a bruise, it’s difficult for the manager to push others to play through pain.

Joe Mauer has been on the disabled list for the following ailments (courtesy of Twins Daily): A torn meniscus (2004); thigh strain (2007); lower back sprain (2009); bilateral leg weakness (2011); pneumonia (2011); concussion (2013); and an oblique strain (2014).

Maybe he should have rubbed dirt on his lungs to fight through the pneumonia. Maybe he should’ve just strapped it on and played through that concussion. Oh, wait, he tried that and tried that before him. People like Souhan mock the bilateral leg weakness thing but it was ultimately traced back to a rare viral infection and, clearly, affected Mauer’s ability to play. Legs are pretty damn important to a hitter and a catcher, I’m told.

The fact is that the Twins, if anything, have typically encouraged or allowed far too many players to play through pain or injuries, and it hasn’t helped them a bit. Mauer’s doing so has likely hindered his performance in the short term while doing nothing to get him back to playing shape more quickly.

But despite all of that — and one bit that is often left out of these little bash pieces — is that Mauer has been one of the best players in baseball over the course of his career. He had a bad 2014 to be sure, but he spent a solid decade as the game’s best catcher,

40 and when you’re a top hitting and defending catcher — who has averaged a bit over 500 plate appearances a year despite those injuries — no one can question your contributions and no one can question your toughness.

Yet questioning those things about Mauer is practically the Minnesota state pastime. The list of media idiots and ill-informed fans who have decided that all that ails the Twins is their best player and that, dammit, he needs to grow a pair and play more is as long as the Mississippi. It’s gone from comical to annoying to practically sick. Souhan is among the sickest. Really, I think he has some sort of pathological problem with all of this. He is, after all, a guy who argued that the University of Minnesota football coach should be fired because he has epilepsy. His newspaper issued a public apology for that. The motivating force there is the same as here, however: “your injuries and illnesses are getting in the way of my sports, dammit, and you are less of a person and competitor because of them.” Souhan questions Mauer’s desire? I question Souhan’s basic human decency and mental health.

But maybe this all ends soon. No, not because the Star-Tribune reassigns Souhan to the obituary page where he can mock the dead for being soft (that would make too much sense), but because Paul Molitor is now on the case, and he’s the LAST DAMN GUY who is going to put up with wimpy injured players. Indeed, he’s gonna outlaw the friggin’ disabled list altogether! He’ll lead by example!

Molitor struggled with injuries for much of his early career, being placed on the disabled list six times between 1980 and 1986. In 1984, Molitor struggled with elbow problems, played in only 13 games and ultimately underwent surgery in an attempt to salvage his career. He played in 140 games in 1985, hitting .297 with 10 home runs and 48 RBI. He followed that with a .281 average, 9 home runs and 55 RBI in 1986. That year he suffered a hamstring injury, returned for a few days, then reinjured it. He played in 105 games that season.

Um, wait. Well, um. OK, sure, he was injured a ton, but “HIS DESIRE TO PLAY WAS OBVIOUS!” I mean, once he was moved to DH anyway. Where he played 1168 of his nearly 2683 major league games.

I’m sure some of you will dismiss this as Souhan being Souhan. Of him just doing his schtick. Of being edgy because being edgy like this is what causes ESPN to back up the money truck for sports writers who want to go on those dumb shout fests they air in the afternoon. And maybe that is what Souhan is doing.

But one of my personal beliefs, learned by way of life experience, Vonnegut books and Batman — is that we are what we pretend to be, not what we claim we really are. And whether Souhan really is a dense, empathy-free person who chooses to eschew human decency in order to elevate sportsball over a person’s health and well being or if that’s just an act he puts on, that is, essentially, what he is.

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