Minnesota Twins: Team finally fires Paul Molitor
After essentially being forced into a manager their first two seasons on the job, the Minnesota Twins front office will head into 2019 with a manager of their choosing.
When the Minnesota Twins hired Derek Falvey and Thad Levine to head their organization after the 2016 season, one of the first things mentioned was that they were going to be asked by Twins ownership to stay with manager Paul Molitor for one season before making a decision to pursue their own guy. After the Twins surprisingly won the Wild Card in 2017, Falvey and Levine were essentially forced into a corner of extending Molitor.
Tuesday, they got to step out on their own.
The Minnesota Twins announced on Tuesday that the 2017 American League manager of the year would be removed from the manager role, hoping he would remain in the organization. The organization will immediately begin seeking a new manager.
The roots of Falvey in the Cleveland organization and Levine in the Texas organization have been explored in previous hires, though in the end, coaching hires have been from organizations other than their background organizations, hiring highly-regarded hitting coach James Rowson from the Yankees organization and their new pitching coach for 2018, Garvin Alston, from the Athletics organization.
Both coaches were truly hires from the front office, so it’s highly likely that they will be strongly encouraged for the incoming manager. With the success that both have had and the rapport that each has with a young roster, the new manager will likely want that sort of stability coming into the situation as well.
Where the Minnesota Twins could turn
The Minnesota Twins could dip into those Indians and Rangers connections. One of the top managerial candidates out there is Sandy Alomar, Jr., who has been on the Cleveland coaching staff since November 2009. He would definitely make sense.
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Recently fired Jeff Bannister and former Rangers manager Ron Washington would also be great player’s managers that could be brought on with the Twins. Rangers first base coach Steve Buechele has been mentioned at times for jobs, and he could also be brought in.
Internally, there are a couple of interesting options. First would be the AAA manager that was brought in last season, Joel Skinner. Skinner had time as a major league manager as an interim for the Indians in 2002. Another first-time manager in the Twins minor leagues with long team lines could also figure into the discussion in Fort Myers manager Ramon Borrego.
The final name that could be very interesting is a guy that was brought in by Falvey and Lavine for a role with the team and would be a very definite move toward the manager in an analytics role. Jeff Pickler has served the last two seasons for the Minnesota Twins as the Coordinator of Major League Development, coordinating the communication between the majors and the player development team along with developing game preparation strategy.
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With star Joe Mauer retiring and now manager Paul Molitor being let go, the “hometown” element of the Minnesota Twins may be lessened, but it could be for the team to move forward and be even better!