Paul Molitor to receive another interview for Twins’ vacancy

The field of candidates vying to fill the vacancy left by the departure of longtime Minnesota Twins manager Ron Gardenhire has been narrowed, according to reports, while a member of the former American League Manager of the Year’s 2014 coaching staff is set to receive another interview in the coming days.

According to a tweet from Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Hall of Famer Paul Molitor will interview with team general manager Terry Ryan this week, although he notes that his securing the position is far from a lock, adding that “more due diligence remains,” in the search process.

Last season, Molitor served as a coach assisting in base running, positioning, infield instruction bunting and in-game strategy on Gardenhire’s staff, and the former big leaguer quickly became a leading candidate to fill the vacancy at the helm of the club that struggled to a 70-92 mark.

According to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN, Sandy Alomar Jr. has been informed that he is out of the running for the position. In recent years, the former big league backstop has been interviewed for several managerial vacancies, while serving as the Cleveland Indians’ first base coach in 2014 under former Boston Red Sox skipper Terry Francona. He also previously served as Francona’s bench coach.

In recent days, Molitor has once again emerged as a front-runner to fill the Twins’ managerial vacancy.

Another report indicated that DeMarlo Hale, the bench coach for the Toronto Blue Jays, has also been ruled out as a replacement for Gardenhire, joining Joe McEwing and Alomar Jr. on the list of displaced candidates.

In terms of other potential options still on the table for Minnesota include former Twins first baseman and current minor league manager within the organization Doug Mientkiewicz, Torey Lovullo, the current bench coach for the Red Sox and Gene Glynn, the manager for the Minnesota Triple-A affiliate.

Mientkiewicz was at organizational meeting last week in Florida, but reports that  Molitor joined coaching leaders from the Minnesota organization were mistaken, according to Wolfson.

Earlier reports from LaVelle Neal from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune indicated that Molitor had already received a second interview. Regardless, he has emerged as a clear-cut front-runner in recent days for the opening. An announcement could be made as early as Thursday, although doing so would require special permission from Major League Baseball, given the World Series would be ongoing at that point.