Former Twins manager Ron Gardenhire had a lot of positive things to say about one of the candidates vying to be his replacement as the Twins manager.
Gardenhire made an appearance on MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM Thursday and raved about one of his former assistants, Paul Molitor, as his potential successor.
Molitor, 58, joined Gardenhire’s staff last fall. He is thought by many to be the favorite to replace Gardenhire, who spent 13 seasons as the Twins’ manager.
To this point, Molitor is the only candidate to receive a second interview with the team’s General Manager Terry Ryan.
“He played the game at the highest level, he’s as good as it gets,” said Gardenhire of Molitor on Thursday.
Why would HOFer Paul Molitor be a good choice for Twins Manager? Former skipper Ron Gardenhire has these reasons: https://t.co/5DRxPHLJBC
— MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (@MLBNetworkRadio) October 23, 2014
“If Paulie ends up getting this manager’s job, he’s not going to be your traditional manager, he’ll try things” Gardenhire said. “He’s into a lot of different things on finding different ways to beat you, just like he did as a player.”
According to the Pioneer Press’ Mike Berardino, Molitor’s addition to Gardenhire’s staff wasn’t always smooth. He writes:
“Molitor’s addition to the staff caused Gardenhire to chafe at times behind the scenes, especially early on, considering their shared expertise when it comes to infield play. But Thursday, Gardenhire made it sound like he had no issues at all having a potential, if not likely, successor on his coaching staff in 2014.”
“He was fun to have on the staff, I learned a lot from him, a fantastic guy and a local guy,” Gardenhire said.
In 13 seasons Gardenhire led the Twins to more than 1,000 wins. He won six American League Central Division Championships, but after four straight 90-loss seasons the Twins fired him at the end of the season.
