Who Will Be The Next Twins Manager?

Here is a quick look at some of the potential candidates, though it is always important to note that a surprise candidate could come out of nowhere. There are several qualified internal candidates, though Terry Ryan insists that they will do their due diligence and look outside the organization as well.

Internal Candidates

Terry Steinbach – In my mind, he became the possible front-runner within the last week. I believe he may also be a top candidate for the Arizona Diamondbacks. His former Oakland A’s manager Tony Larussa is in charge of baseball operations and his former rotation-mate Dave Stewart was just named as the General Manager. However, there are a lot in the Twins organization that really like him as a managerial candidate. The 52-year-old from New Ulm played for the University of Minnesota before being drafted by the Oakland A’s. He spent parts of 14 seasons in the big leagues, the final three with the Twins. He has been Gardenhire’s bench coach the last two seasons.

Paul Molitor – Of course, most have believed that Molitor would be the next Twins manager for a couple of years already. He was added to the Twins staff a year ago after being a roving minor league instructor for several seasons. He has been a hitting coach in the big leagues, though that didn’t go so well. The 58-year-old from St. Paul has worked with the minor leaguers that are likely to be part of the next Twins core. Molitor was elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame in 2004 following a 21-year big league career during which he had over 3,300 hits and played in seven All Star games.

Gene Glynn – Glynn was named Minnesota’s first Mr. Basketball in 1975 when he was the top hoops player in the state while playing at Waseca high school. He never played in the big leagues after seven seasons of playing minor league ball, including three years at AAA. He has had a variety of roles in baseball. He was a long-time manager and coach in the minor leagues. He was a base coach for the Rockies, the Expos, the Cubs and the Giants over the course of a dozen years. Before becoming the Twins AAA manager, he spent six years as a scout in the Tampa Bay Rays. He has done a great job in Rochester taking a revolving door of players and making them playoff contenders.

Doug Mientkiewicz – “Dougie Baseball” was drafted by the Twins in the fifth round of the 1995 draft and stayed in the organization until he was traded to the Red Sox and won a World Series championship in 2004. He spent time with the Mets, Royals, Yankees, Pirates and Dodgers from 2005 through 2009. His best years were clearly with the Twins. Known for his fire and his glove, Mientkiewicz won a Gold Glove at first base in 2001 and was a big part of the group that came up in the late ‘90s and the early playoff teams last decade. He returned to the organization a year ago as the manager of the Ft. Myers Miracle. In his first year, he went to the playoffs, but he also got into a fight with the opposing manager in a game. He has worked with most of the Twins top prospects and led this year’s squad to the Florida State League title. If you believe being able to relate to today’s players is important, Mientkiewicz is just 40 years old and only been retired for five years.

Jake Mauer – Some will laugh that this name is on the list, but Mauer should manage in the big leagues. If not now, someday. For those that choose to look only at that last name and not the qualifications, it’s just too bad. Mauer is a very good baseball person. He was a leader on that St. Thomas baseball teams that won Division III titles. He spent five seasons playing the minor leagues, peaking at Double-A, and playing a variety of positions. After spring training of 2006, he retired and immediately became a coach. He managed in the GCL for a couple of years before becoming the manager at Ft. Myers. In 2013, the organization made the decision to move him to Cedar Rapids to lead the group of young, very talented prospects. Known for having a very high baseball IQ and being three or four batters ahead of the game, Mauer protects his players while maintaining a calm about him. He is also known to be

External Candidates

Chip Hale – 49-year-old Hale was one of the better pinch hitters for the Twins in the ‘90s. The Twins drafted him in the 17^th round in 1987 out of the University of Arizona. He spent time with the Twins in 1989 and 1990, and then he returned to the Twins in 1993 and stayed through 1996. He never played more than 85 games in a season or had more than 186 plate appearances. He was a second baseman who became a utility player but mainly was a pinch hitter. He got 12 at bats with the Dodgers in 1997. Since 2006, he has spent time in the big leagues as a coach with the Diamondbacks and Mets. He has been the third base coach for the A’s the last four seasons. He has been a managerial candidate for many positions over the last four or five offseasons.

Dave Martinez – Martinez had a terrific 16 season big league career as an outfielder for the Cubs, Expos and seven other teams. He was a starter for several years and became a valued bench bat later in his career. The 50-year-old has been the bench coach for the Tampa Bay Rays since the 2008 season. Martinez was always known as a smart ball player, but much of the interest in Martinez would appear to be his association with Rays manager Joe Maddon who is generally considered one of baseball’s best. Martinez has put in his time and deserves to see what he can do on his own.

Torey Lovullo – Lovullo was a Tigers prospect in the late 80s. He hit .381 as a 22-year-old in a September call up in 1988, but he was never able to become the player many thought he would. He spent big league time with seven teams over eight seasons from 1988 through 1999. He became a minor league coach in 2001 and was a manager in the Clevelend system. He was John Farrell’s bench coach in Toronto in 2011 and 2012 and followed him to the Red Sox in 2013 in the same capacity. He is 49 years old and has no major league managerial experience, though he has interviewed for several managerial jobs, including the Cubs job a year ago.

Joe McEwing – The 41-year-old McEwing spent nine seasons in the big leagues. In that time, he played over 45 games at seven different positions, all but pitcher and catcher. In 2008, he entered the world of coaching. He became a manager in 2009 in A-Ball and then moved up to AAA in 2011 (he coached Eduardo Escobar in 2010 and 2011) Following that season, he was the manager of the Mesa Solar Sox in the Arizona Fall League where he coached Brian Dozier, Aaron Hicks and Chris Herrmann. Dozier gave McEwing a lot of credit for helping him learn second base. After the AFL, he was added to Robin Ventura’s White Sox coaching staff as the third base coach after Ozzie Guillen was fired.

Ozzie Guillen – His name keeps coming up, and we know that he wants to get back into managing. He has had managerial experience and won a World Series title with the White Sox in 2005. He was the Rookie of the Year in 1985 and a three-time All Star in his 13 seasons with the White Sox as a player. He has had a lot of controversy surrounding him since his departure from the White Sox. His run in Miami was just one, long year. All that said, he’s a smart baseball man who would have the energy and fire that maybe this team needs. He is from Venezuela and diversity is one piece of the equation.

Manny Acta – He is seen now on ESPN’s baseball coverage, but the 45-year-old has already had two big league managerial positions. The Dominican-born Acta spent six years in the minor leagues before going to scouting school. He spent time coaching in the minor leagues before getting MLB coaching jobs with the Expos and Mets. In 2007, he became the Nationals manager as a 38-year-old. He lost his job in July of 2009, and in 2010, he was named Cleveland’s manager. He kept his surprise team in the AL Central race until late in the 2011 season before finishing two games under .500. He was fired after the 2012 season. His career MLB managerial record is 372-518.

Mike Redmond – The 43 year old was the Twins backup catcher from 2005 through 2009. He was a popular player known for his leadership skills. So it was no surprise that he quickly became a manager following his retirement from playing. Just two years later, the Miami Marlins offered him their job and he has spent the last two years as their manager. Last weekend, he signed an extension through the 2017 season with the Marlins. Though not impossible, it is highly improbable that he would even be interviewed for the Twins job at this time.

As I said earlier, this is just a starting point for potential managerial options to replace Ron Gardenhire? The question you need to ask yourself is this; what qualities are most important to you in a manager? Being bilingual? High-level baseball IQ? Experience? Big League Experience? Statistical Lean? Fundamentals and teaching? How will they use the bullpen? How do they feel about bunting or base stealing?

As I sit here on Monday afternoon, six hours since the announcement first came out, here is how I would rank the likelihood of the managerial choice:

Who would I like to see as the next Twins manager is likely a different ranking. Mine would be (with admittedly limited knowledge on the candidates other than reading and research):

As you can see, I tend to lean toward the younger manager, a guy who can relate to the younger players and hopefully be here for a decade or more.

What do you think? What direction would your managerial look go?