Paul Molitor to be hired as Minnesota Twins’ manager

According to multiple reports, including one from 1500 ESPN Twin Cities, the league’s final managerial vacancy will be filled early this week as the Minnesota Twins are set to hire Hall of Famer Paul Molitor as their next manager, thus concluding a lengthy interview process that included nearly half a dozen candidates.

Those candidates included Boston Red Sox bench coach Torey Lovullo, who was believed to be the other finalist in the search after Minnesota informed its Class-A Fort Myers manager Doug Mientkiewicz late last week that he was no longer in the running for the position. Both men, in addition to Molitor, received at least two interviews.

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The team also contacted Joe Maddon, who opted out of his deal with the Tampa Bay Rays two weeks ago, but the talks never gained traction. The 60-year-old will be introduced as the next manager of the Chicago Cubs at a press conference on Monday afternoon after the team fired Rick Renteria after one season with two years left on his contract.

Molitor, who has no managerial experience to his name, has spent the last ten seasons as a minor league infield coordinator and base running coach, also spending the 2014 season on Ron Gardenhire‘s big league coaching staff as supervisor of base running, infield instruction and an assistant of in-game strategy. He also served as the club’s first base coach for a short time.

Gardenhire, who was hired after the 2002 season in Minnesota, was dismissed by the team after another disappointing season. In the last four years, the team has lost over 380 games after being one of the top teams in the division for a large portion of Gardenhire’s time at the helm of the club.

Molitor spent three seasons with the Twins as a player during his Hall of Fame career, during which he totaled 3,314 base hits, posting a .306/.369/.448 line. He was also named to seven All-Star teams, spending time with the Milwaukee Brewers, Toronto Blue Jays and the Twins.