The Twins are expected to hire Paul Molitor to be their next manager in a press conference Monday, 1500espn.com (the local affiliate) reports.
Given what we already knew, this is hardly a surprise. Back on Oct. 2, Jon Heyman reported Molitor was the favorite and reiterated as much on Oct. 21.
Red Sox bench coach Torey Lovullo also met with owner Jim Pohlad and he appears to have been the other finalist. Twins Triple-A manager Gene Glynn was at least being discussed late in the process and Class-A manager Doug Mientkiewicz got two interviews himself.
All signs indicate this is Molitor's job. He is believed to be a favorite of Pohlad, was born and raised in St. Paul, attended the University of Minnesota and spent the final three years of his playing career with the Twins, so this is definitely a marriage that makes sense.
Molitor has no managing experience but was the Twins bench coach in the past. This past season, he was a coach for the club, overseeing baserunning, bunting, infield instruction and other various things for manager Ron Gardenhire.
Gardenhire managed the Twins from 2002-2014, succeeding Tom Kelly, who managed the Twins from 1986-2001. So if the Twins stick with a similar approach, Molitor could be at the helm for a while.
Molitor, 58, was a Hall of Famer as a player, with 3,319 career hits, 605 of which were doubles and a .306 batting average. He went to the World Series twice, winning one ring.
